Sunflower Tea
by Snowthistle
Summary: Karkat Vantas is a new employee working alongside Nepeta Leijon. He is having relationship issues with his girlfriend and finds himself falling for his cat loving co-worker. She seems to be oblivious to her crabby co-worker's advances and tries to help him work out his problems. Humanstuck
1. Enter The Crab

Chapter 1: Enter The Crab

Loud beeping fills the quiet room and a hand feels for the off button and presses down to turn it off. There's no point in trying to hit the snooze button or there will be more loud beeping. A sigh escapes from the sleepy young adult with a messy, brown bed head. She does not want to get up today and would much rather stay in bed, but that would get her fired from her job. Her olive eyes drifted over to the silver tabby cat sleeping at the foot of her bed, and she sat up scratch behind her cat's ears. After a few minutes, the petting came to a stop when a knock came to the door.

"Nepeta, are you awake dear?" a voice called from the other side.

"Yes, Mom, I'm awake!" the sleepy brunette replied.

"Okay make sure you're not sleeping in. I'm making pancakes this morning."

With a slight groan, Nepeta flopped back onto her pillows and pulled her blanket over her head. She really did not want to leave the warmth of her bed or the warmth of the house and head out into the cold, freezing air of winter. She didn't care that winter meant long sleeved clothes and hot chocolate because it was still cold otherwise, and she was more of a warm weather person. Reluctantly, she rolled out of bed and flopped onto the floor before crawling over to her closet. She finally stood up and grabbed an olive colored blouse and a chocolate brown skirt which reached down to her knees and walked out of her closet. Her eyes closed as she shivered from the cold air in her room after unbuttoning her pajama top and slowly let it slide to the floor. She slipped on her bra and gently clasped it before quickly sliding on her blouse and buttoning it up. Her cat hopped down from the foot of the bed and wound around her legs, and Nepeta smiled and petted her head before slipping on a pair of sheer stockings over her legs and her skirt. She tapped her index finger against her collarbone as she pondered what to wear around her neck and found her sheer white scarf with black cats printed on it. She tied it around her neck and placed the tailing ends of the scarf into her blouse before walking out of the room for breakfast.

A heavy aroma hit her nose as the smell of pancakes drifted through the warm house, and her mouth watered as she approached the kitchen. Her mother stood in front of the stove finishing up with the pancakes and switched off the heat as she slid the last pancake onto the plate she had nearby. Nepeta sat down at the table as her mother turned around with the plate of pancakes and sat down across the table from her. Her mother smiled sweetly as she slid a spatula under two pancakes and gently dropped them onto Nepeta's plate before grabbing two pancakes for herself. Nepeta buttered up her pancakes and grabbed the syrup to pour over her food, and her mother settled for strawberries and a few squirts of whipped cream. Nepeta let out a satisfied sigh as she took a bite of her pancakes which elicited a small chuckle from her mother as she poured tea into a teacup. Two empty spots were also at the table where Nepeta and her mother sat: One was where her sister Meulin used to sit before she moved out, and the other spot was where their deceased father used to sit. She missed having her sister Meulin around, but she supposed that it was inevitable since Meulin was married now. Someday she too would have to move out and leave her dear mother behind, and she felt guilty about moving out. Her mother did not seem to mind, however and occasionally urged Nepeta to move out and enjoy life, but Nepeta insisted on staying with her mother out of fear that she would get lonely. She knew it had been hard on her mother when Meulin first moved out for college and again when she herself had gone to college. There was a brief period where all three women lived together in the same house until Meulin left once again to be with her husband Kurloz. Of course Meulin did come over every now and then and for holidays.

"Nepeta, you really should consider finding your own place some time. It'll be harder for you to adjust living in a new place if you stay with me too long," her mother spoke before taking a sip of her tea.

"Mom, you know I can't do that. I don't want you to be living in this house all by yourself," Nepeta protested.

"I could always live with Aurthour, and Equius seems to be doing well on his own."

"…"

"Sweetheart, you really don't need to worry about my well-being. I'll be fine if I have to live alone, but I want you to be able to be independent and make your own decisions."

"I guess so…"

Her mother smiled," Think about it sometime will you? Now hurry up and finish your breakfast or you'll be late for work."

Nepeta nodded and finished up her breakfast before placing her dishes in the dishwasher and rushing quickly to grab her purse and put on her heels. She slid on her heels quickly and grabbed her car keys from the hook before planting a kiss on her mother's cheek and heading out the door. Her mother laughed and quickly stopped her daughter from going out in the cold without a jacket, and Nepeta smiled with embarrassment as she slipped on her jacket and gave her mother a tight hug before starting up her car. She shivered a little as she began driving and had to remind herself to mind how fast she was going on the icy roads. Meowing sounded beside her as she drove, and she remembered that she needed to replace Meulin's ringtone to something other than meowing. More than once she had mistaken the phone for her cat Ubasti, and she giggled to herself while waiting at a red light. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a head of fiery red hair, and she glanced over quickly to see a man about her age walking along the sidewalk. He looked very irritated for some reason, and she glanced back at the traffic light to see it changed green. She drove on ahead but couldn't help thinking about the angry looking redhead, but she decided not to dwell on it any longer as she approached the building she worked in. A glance into her mirror showed her that she'd forgotten to put on makeup this morning, so she quickly applied eyeliner and mascara in hope that no one would notice that she'd forgotten to put on anything. She then grabbed a tube of pink lip gloss and carefully swiped it across her lips a few times before grabbing her purse and stepping out of the car. Meowing sounded once again from her phone, and she took out her phone to answer as she made her way over to the building.

"Good morning, Nepeta! Were you driving earlier? I'm sorry fur calling at a bad time!" her sister shouted over the phone.

"Meulin, are your hearing aids too low again? You're yelling into the phone," Nepeta replied with a smile.

"Oh yeah I suppose they are. I'm sorry," a pause took place as Meulin adjusted the volume on her hearing aids," I assume you're in the parking lot now?"

"Yes, I am. Did you need something?"

"Oh no, I just wanted to make sure you were getting to work on time."

"Oh Meulin, you don't have to do that. Hee hee it's not like Mom would have let me stay in bed anyways. I can't wait for spring to arrive."

"Hee hee yeah it's really cold outside!"

"It's pawsitively freezing out here!"

"Nice to know you haven't grown out using cat puns."

Nepeta smiled and continued to chat with her sister on the way inside of the building. She walked into the elevator and pressed the button for her floor. A young woman about her age with long, curly, reddish-brown hair walked into the elevator beside her holding a small stack of papers and waved, and Nepeta politely waved back before saying goodbye to her sister and hanging up. The doors opened once more on the way up to reveal a tan skinned woman with short, dark red hair as she walked in and stood between the first two women. Finally, the elevator dinged at the final destination, and all three women stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hallway.

"We're expecting a new employee today," the woman with long, curly hair spoke.

"Oh that's nice to hear ,Aradia," Nepeta smiled.

Aradia nodded," His name is Karkat Vantas, and he will begin working with you, Nepeta."

"That sounds fun! I hope we'll be able to get along with each other."

"He is an old friend of mine," the short-haired redhead spoke," He is a little petulant, but I am sure you will be able to handle him."

"Is he really that bad, Kanaya? I'm sure I'll be able to handle him."

"It's just too bad he's not single. I'm sure if you tried hard enough he could be your boyfriend," Aradia smiled with a slight tilt of her head.

"Oh I don't need a boyfriend, Aradia. Besides, I'm pawsitive that I'll end up becoming a crazy cat lady with forty cats that I have no idea what to do with."

"I am sure that you will not end up being a crazy cat lady, Nepeta. You are a very intelligent and caring young woman, and any man unable to see that is losing out on a quality individual such as you," Kanaya smiled.

"No, I'm purretty sure that a young lady like me who is still living with her mother and has a strong affinity for cats and cat puns will not end up with a boyfriend. If it does happen, then maybe I'm wrong, but I honestly don't see any cute boys asking me out anytime soon."

"Don't say such things like that! It will happen in time!" Aradia protested.

"Aradia, do not badger the dear girl. She will find romance on her own when she is good and ready," Kanaya gently chided.

"As much as I would _love_ to chat about relationships right now, I have office work to tend to, so I must be off."

"I'm surprised _you _of all people are not worrying about this."

"Well, I am an adult now, so I've sort of outgrown that stuff you know?"

Aradia gasped," Do we need to have an intervention with you? I might even need to call in Feferi to hype you up."

"Alright that is enough, Aradia," Kanaya said as she gently took Aradia by the shoulders, "Nepeta is correct in that we need to be attending to our business pursuits instead of prattling on about romantic pursuits."

Kanaya gently steered the curly-haired secretary in the opposite direction as Nepeta opened the door to her office and sat down in her swivel chair. Nepeta started up her computer and began looking through a stack of paperwork she needed to tend to and carefully separated different documents into smaller stacks. Sunlight fell onto the dark, gray-blue floor from the single window in the office and sounds from the hallway drifted into the room as Nepeta worked. Her eyes drifted up and down as she worked with the paperwork and the computer, but she was interrupted by a knock to her office door after half an hour. She stood up and smoothed out her blouse and skirt before opening the door to a smiling Aradia. The curly haired secretary said nothing as she quickly grabbed Nepeta by the wrist and led her down the hallway. Nepeta looked at the secretary in slight confusion, and Aradia merely turned back to tell her not to ask any questions. She frowned but decided to comply with Aradia's request as she was brought into the elevator. Music drifted calmly through the elevator speakers as the two women stood side by side waiting for the doors to reopen. Aradia led the way once again as the elevator stopped, and she brought Nepeta over to their tan skinned, curly haired boss and a ginger haired man with freckles and green eyes; Nepeta recognized him as the man on the sidewalk from earlier that morning.

"I've brought her as you requested, Feferi," Aradia smiled.

"Whale- oh pardon me- Well, it's good to see you got here quickly! This is Karkat Vantas, our new employee, and he will be working with you Nepeta. He's already had a tour of the building, but he still might be having trouble navigating the place," Feferi smiled sweetly.

"It's nice to meet you," Karkat managed to get out.

Nepeta had a feeling he would be a challenge to work with, but she was willing to work with him.

"It's nice to meet you too! I saw you walking along the sidewalk earlier this morning while I was at a traffic light."

"I'm having car troubles, so I had to find a taxi. My dad already left for his job, so he wasn't able to take me."

"I could give you a ride home today if you'd like."

"I'm not too comfortable riding with strange women I barely even know."

"Oh don't be silly! I'm sure I could help you out! I'm not _that _weird."

Aradia nodded," Besides, we all work at a pretty weird place compared to 'normal' jobs anyways, so we're all pretty weird. That's okay with me!"

"Alright, I suppose it's time for us to go our separate ways, so please help Karkat as best as you can, Nepeta!" Feferi said before departing with Aradia.

"I guess that leaves the two of us!"Nepeta smiled politely.

Karkat sighed," Don't be getting any ideas. I have a girlfriend, and she works here as well."

"Oh is that so? Who is she?"

"Her name is Terezi Pyrope, and she works with lizards and exotic reptiles. This is the weirdest conglomerate of animal related jobs I've ever seen! I don't even remember why I applied to work here, but I'm pretty sure it was to work close to my girlfriend."

"Oh well, that's very romantic of you! Terezi Pyrope is your girlfriend? She and I are purretty close friends!"

"Purretty?"

"Oops, I used cat puns all the time when I was younger, and I still do on occasion. It catpuns- excuse me- it happens sometimes."

"It's wonderful that my first co-worker who is not my girlfriend uses cat puns," he said sarcastically.

Nepeta giggled," You're going to be interesting to work with. I bet Terezi really loves being around you. Now let's head up to my floor and check on those cats."

She turned on her heel and returned to the elevators for the third time that morning, but she was used to traveling up and down the elevators. Usually, she would take the stairs, but she was wearing heels today and did not trust herself walking up or downstairs in heels. Karkat followed a foot behind her in grouchy silence and stood as far away from her as he could inside the elevator. Nepeta paid no mind to his petulant behavior and waited patiently for the elevator to rise to her floor. She glanced over to the green-eyed redhead as he scowled through the calming elevator music playing through the speakers and had to stifle a giggle. The doors opened for Nepeta and Karkat, and they began walking down the hallway to Nepeta's office. She had Karkat wait outside the door while she grabbed a few things and handed a clipboard to him before stepping back out and motioning for him to follow her further down the hallway. He followed her without question as she led him through the halls to a blue door with a golden cat on the wall beside it. Nepeta opened the door to reveal a lavish room with cats of different breeds and colors inside cages of varying sizes. Feather toys, scratching post towers and castles, mechanical mice, and a few balls were neatly organized around the room for play time. A cabinet flushed against one wall had a label on both doors indicating the side used for food and treats and the side used for medical and bathing supplies.

"Karkat, I need you to take roll call for each cat in the room," she giggled," Well, just read the name labeled on the cages while I start getting food out for feeding time."

He frowned at her slightly since she seemed to think that he was stupid enough not to know what she meant by giving cats "roll call", but Nepeta busied herself with taking different types of cat food out of the cabinet and grabbing dishes to put the food in. The strong smells of the various foods mixed with the cats' scents made the room smell very strange, but Karkat focused on checking to make sure each cat was accounted for. The cats were meowing at the scent of food as well as the fresh, strange scent of Karkat, and some came over to try sniffing at his fingers. Some were declawed and some were not, and he had to make sure none of them scratched him while he got close enough to read their names. A lot of them stared at him with wide-eyed curiosity and flicked their tails back and forth. Nepeta began letting a few cats at a time out of their cages in order for them to start eating and she occasionally made soft cooing noises to summon some of the more stubborn ones over to their food. Karkat stood by awkwardly holding the clipboard with the finished roll sheet as he watched this grown woman fawning over these cats like they were children. He figured that she must have at least seven cats at home and lived by herself because she was unable to get any dates. Soon he abandoned the idea of that last part because he was being judgmental of his co-worker, and he didn't even know anything about her. Besides, he had experienced relationship problems before, so it wasn't his business to be concerned about her love life in the first place. A pretty young lady like her probably did have a boyfriend, and here he was assuming things about her without even asking. She did seem to be very friendly with the cats, however, and seemed very experienced with them. He probably should have reconsidered choosing a place as whacky as this for a job because of the strange conglomerate of jobs around this building.

This floor was for boarding cats, his girlfriend was a herpetologist, and his boss worked with fish and other aquatic life, so he wondered what exactly the place was. It was strange amalgamation of a pet shop, animal hotel, and some other stuff mixed in, and Karkat really did not care to understand the purpose of the company. He did need a job if he was going to get his own place and buy his own groceries and such, and Terezi was working here. A few other people he'd known since childhood and old acquaintances worked here, and he needed to work on his people skills a little bit more. He was a bit of an ornery man who yelled and glared a lot, but he was a sweetheart underneath. At first glance, however, that was another story, and most people tended to stay away from him. He had abstained from certain jobs that had him deal with customers often because occasionally he would lose his patience and temper with people, and this would get him reprimanded for yelling at customers. His new boss Feferi seemed to be more patient with his temper, but he was making sure not to lose his cool. Nepeta was suddenly close by again as she gently placed a cat back into its cage, and Karkat decided to stop staring like an owl and help her out with putting the cats back into their respective cages. She began opening up other cages and had this set of cats come over for feeding, and he assumed that she did this in order to separate the ones that would get along with one another from the ones who didn't get along with others. It appeared that cat boarding was pretty easy as long as the cats did not do anything chaotic, and Karkat didn't mind working in such a strange place.

After feeding time was over, Nepeta began letting cats out of their cages once again and walked over to a basket of cat toys. She looked over to Karkat standing at one end of the room and motioned him over to grab some toys to let the cats play. He walked over to where she was and looked at the toys inside the basket to see what he should begin with. She chose a feather toy and slipped off her heels before walking to the center of the room and dangling it in mid-air as cats came over to jump and bat at the feathers. Karkat decided to pick a stuffed mouse toy, and some cats immediately came running over to him and tried to climb up his pant legs. He stared at them in confusion as he held the mouse higher, and the cats began meowing as they clung to his pant legs. Nepeta stood where she was covering her mouth as she giggled, and Karkat stared at her helplessly while the cats crowded around him. It was just a stuffed mouse toy with no feathers or anything, and it didn't even wind up. He was just very confused as to why he was being surrounded by all of the cats that were out and why Nepeta was just standing there not helping him. After her giggles went away, Nepeta motioned for him to throw the mouse to her. He drew his hand back and tossed it to her, and she quickly caught it. The cats immediately ran over to her and began standing on their hind legs once again.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"This mouse has catnip in it."

_Oh it was catnip. _He thought while shaking his head in stupidity. That was the reason why they all came crowding around like that and why Nepeta currently stood surrounded by them. She threw the mouse toy back over to him, and he began playing a little game of toss and catch while watching the cats run back and forth. This went on for a little while until he and Nepeta began to put the cats back into their cages and let out the next set of cats. He decided that the first day of work was going really well, and he was somewhat having fun playing with these cats. If this was what Nepeta did on a daily basis, then she obviously loved her job. After about another hour, all of the cats were returned to their cages, and Nepeta walked out of the room with Karkat. She walked to the elevator with him and pressed the button for the ground floor. He was glad there were those sticky lint rollers to remove all that cat hair from his clothes, and he and Nepeta kept checking over each other to make sure they didn't have any more on them. The elevator stopped, and Nepeta walked through the open doors and turned left towards the cafeteria. Karkat looked around with curiosity at the elegantly furbished cafeteria and how the tables looked like they came from a nice restaurant. He followed behind Nepeta as she walked over to the buffet area, and she grabbed a plate and handed it to him before grabbing one for herself and deciding what she wanted to eat today. Karkat scanned the food choices which seemed to be fairly average dishes and nothing too fancy because this was not an actual restaurant. He settled for some salad, a roll, and a ham sandwich before walking over to a table and sitting down. Nepeta sat down next to him with a sweet smile on her face, and Karkat was about to protest until he saw Terezi approaching.

"Hey guys!" the redhead greeted.

"Hello, Terezi, how are you?" Nepeta asked before taking a forkful of pasta.

"I'm doing well! How are you doing with all of those cats, Karkat?"

"I think I've done a pretty good job of keeping those cats in line," he said slightly proud of himself.

Nepeta giggled," It was so funny when he picked up one of the catnip mice and all the cats came swarming over to him! He didn't know what to do, and he just looked so surprised! I wish you could've been there to see him squirm!"

"Hehehe! I bet that would've been a spectacle to behold!" she laughed and ruffled Karkat's hair.

He squirmed away from Terezi's touch," Terezi, you know I hate it when you ruffle my hair!"

She grinned and continued to ruffle his hair," Aww you know I'm just teasing you! It's so much fun to watch you squirm when I do this."

"Terezi, please just cut it out!"

"Oh don't be such a big baby about it, Karkat, I'm not intending any harm to your silly hair."

"Terezi, I think you should stop. He is looking purretty irritated right now," Nepeta piped up.

"Alright, fine I'll stop," Terezi said as she withdrew her hand.

Karkat sighed and began eating once again.

"How are you and your lizards doing?" Nepeta asked nonchalantly.

"My lizards and I are doing fine. Buster is just being a little bit problematic today, and he nearly bit me."

"Aww he's probably just cranky."

"At least he's not crabby like Karkat."

He rolled his eyes," I'm right here."

"Oh I'm just joking, Karkat, learn to relax a little!"

"I suppose I will try to relax, but it's hard to do that when you keep ruffling my hair and pointing out my crabbiness."

"Nepeta, are you sure you're able to handle being around Karkat?"

"Hmm? Of course I'm able to handle him! I've dealt with grumpy people and animals befur, so it's not like this is anything new to me! You just have to be patient with them."

"You must have the patience of a saint."

"Oh don't be silly. My patience can run thin you know, but it's only if I'm pushed to that level."

"Hehehe well I hope Karkat doesn't give you any trouble."

"I'm sure he won't!"

Soon, lunch break drew to a close, and Nepeta returned to her floor with Karkat. She walked to the hallway where her office was and opened the one adjacent to hers which was to be Karkat's office. Karkat flipped on the lights as he surveyed the room and watched Nepeta grabbing several unnecessary chairs sitting around and begin to carry them out. He helped her move the extra chairs to the hallway, and she told him to wait while she went to grab some cleaning supplies to freshen up the dusty office. He sat in one of the chairs and decided that his day was going pretty well aside from Terezi's hair ruffling from earlier. He didn't understand what her deal was with him sometimes, and she could get on his nerves sometimes. He really did love Terezi to pieces, but she could get so annoying sometimes. She was even annoying to him before they became a couple, so it was a wonder that he'd even stayed so close with her for so long. It wasn't like there was any other young lady he was close to that he liked, so he would be single once again if he considered breaking up with her. Terezi also had a tendency to not respect his personal space, and that drove him crazy when she insisted on bothering him when he clearly wanted to be left alone. Nepeta came around the corner with two feather dusters and some Pledge. She walked over and handed a duster to him, and he took it as he walked into the office. Both spent the next half hour cleaning up Karkat's office and occasionally sneezing from the dust billowing everywhere.

Once the office was clean, Nepeta went off to find a cart to put the extra chairs on and move into storage. Karkat mused about how Nepeta was being so helpful to him on his first day of work, but he assumed a cheerful lady like her wouldn't mind helping out an ornery man like him. Then again she could just be doing it because she had to and not because she wanted to, but he really didn't care all that much. Although, would an average person do any of the things she was doing? She could have sat with her close co-workers-not including Terezi who came to sit with them- at lunch, yet she chose to sit with the crabby new guy. She could have left him to fix up the office by himself and worked on her own responsibilities, but she chose to stick around and help him clean up. The aforementioned brunette rounded the corner with a cart a few minutes later, and Karkat began helping her load the chairs onto the cart. He would offer to bring the cart back for her, but he had no idea where to return it. Nepeta began pushing the cart down the hallway, and Karkat decided that he should at least help her return the chairs to storage. It would allow him to get to know the building more and not feel so helplessly lost whenever he needed to run errands or find people and places later in the future. She smiled sweetly in thanks and moved aside for him to have room for pushing the cart down the hallway and back to the storage room. On the way she would say hi to different people they passed, and she would explain who they were and where they worked. They passed a taller woman with long, thick, curly hair with olive green eyes, and Nepeta explained that the woman was her older sister Meulin. She was married to a man named Kurloz Makara, and Karkat nodded saying that he knew his younger brother Gamzee.

Aradia walked with them for a little while because she was on her way to the same floor where the storage room was. Once she murmured something into Nepeta's ear, but her words were blocked out by the noise of the cartful of chairs. Nepeta seemed to be mildly upset by it and blushed with embarrassment while Aradia giggled, and Nepeta gently elbowed her co-worker in the ribcage before returning her composure. Blush still lingered on her cheeks as she continued to push the cart down the hall, but Karkat did not bother being invasive by asking questions. Eventually, the trio separated once they arrived on the floor where the cart needed to be, and Karkat returned with Nepeta to their floor. The rest of the day passed by after some paperwork, bathing a few cats who needed it, and returning cats to owners who came to pick them up. Nepeta and Karkat both clocked out once they were finished with everything and walked outside into the freezing afternoon air. Karkat began walking out of the parking lot while Nepeta headed over to her car, and she looked up as she opened the car door and watched Karkat walking out of the parking lot. She wondered how long it would take him to get home on foot since he was having car troubles, and she didn't know if he was intending on taking a cab home. Another look around the parking lot told her that he was definitely not waiting until Terezi got off work to head home, and she wasn't leaving for another hour.

"Are you sure you're fine with walking home on foot?" She called out to him.

He paused for a few moments and turned around.

"Are you sure I'm not going to be nuisance to drive home?" he called back.

"You're so silly! Get your ginger behind over here, so you can sit inside a warm car!"

He rolled his eyes and began to head over to her car, and she slid into her seat and shut the door.

"I really shouldn't be going into cars with women I barely know. Terezi might get angry with me and assume that I'm cheating on her," he said as he slid into the passenger seat.

"Oh, I'm sure she won't mind. I'm not _that _kind of friend to her, and I'm just taking my friend's boyfriend home. That's purretty harmless isn't it?"

"I don't know if leaving my butt print on the seat of another woman's car is considered harmless."

He closed the door and buckled his seatbelt before rubbing his arms for warmth. The heater was on and warmth circulated around the car, so he wouldn't be cold for too long. Nepeta began to back her car out of the parking space and pulled out of the parking lot. White dots slowly floated to the windows as Nepeta drove, and Karkat realized that it was beginning to snow. He hated winter and its freezing cold temperatures, but he did look forward to seeing snow. Of course it would get obnoxious having to shovel snow out of the driveway and such, but he didn't mind when it actually fell or when he was able to mess around in the snow. He couldn't remember the last time he had messed around in the snow, but he was an adult now; playing around in the snow was for children. He broke out of his thoughts when Nepeta asked him where he lived while she was stopped at a traffic light, and he told her his address which was apparently in the same neighborhood as hers. He'd never seen her before, but he didn't go walking around the neighborhood that much even as a child because he wasn't really interested in the outdoors. His neighbors weren't exactly entertaining either, but he'd managed to befriend some of them. Of course his temper would get in the way as usual, but they said hi anytime they could. Nepeta pulled into his street before he realized it, and he muttered a thanks and goodbye before heading into his house as she drove to the end of the street and around the cul-de-sac to leave.

Snow was falling steadily now as Nepeta exited and locked her car before heading into her house, and it was still freezing. She walked inside to find her mother baking shortbread cookies for dessert. Her mother turned and greeted her daughter before returning to her baking, and Nepeta went upstairs to change back into her pajamas. Shivers ran through her body as she quickly tossed off her clothes, but she jumped into her bed and hid under her blankets to retain her body heat. After a few moments, she finally grabbed her pajamas and changed into them underneath her blankets before crawling off her bed and standing up. Ubasti wound herself around Nepeta's legs, and Nepeta smiled as she bent down to stroke her cat's back. She then picked up Ubasti and began walking downstairs to see if her mother needed help with dinner or the shortbread cookies. Her mother turned and smiled as Nepeta walked into the kitchen cradling Ubasti.

"How was work today, Sweetheart?" her mother asked.

Nepeta sat down at the table before letting Ubasti hop out of her arms," Work was purretty good today. We have a new employee, and he's working with me."

"Well, that's good that you've got someone to work with all those cats besides your sister."

"His name is Karkat Vantas, and he lives two streets over furrom us."

"Vantas? I work with his father Cerdic Vantas. What's it like working with him?"

"He's a bit ornery, but he doesn't seem all that bad to work with. I can handle working with someone like him, and he didn't seem too crabby today. Although, he was purrobably trying to make a good impurression on his furst day of work."

"Yes, that sounds exactly like his father," she turned around to face her daughter," You still haven't outgrown those cat puns have you?"

Nepeta hugged her knees to her chest," No, I suppose I haven't. I just…I'm twenty. I'm already an adult, and it feels like I was just thirteen yesterday. It's like yesterday I was roleplaying online with my friends, but today I'm an adult with a job and a car."

"You don't even call me Priscilla…I mean Meulin does it sometimes, but even she still calls me 'mom'."

"I know you feel comfortable with me calling you Priscilla, but I just think it's weird. I prefur calling you 'mom' beclaws it's what I'm used to."

"Nepeta, you can call me whatever you like," she smiled," but you can't use the 'o word' on me."

Nepeta grinned and took a deep breath," Mom, you're old!"

"I am not!"

"You are too!"

"No, I am not. Do not argue with your mother!"

"Oldy McKittypants!"

"Oh come here you're so silly," she held out her arms.

Nepeta smiled and stood from the chair to give her mother a hug.

"I made baked chicken today for dinner."

"Do you need help with the shortbread cookies?"

"No, I don't, but thank you for asking."

Her mother turned to put the cookies into the oven, and Nepeta helped her clean up the kitchen. She set the table as her mother brought the chicken to the table for dinner. The two talked with each other over dinner about how their day was and what they did as usual. Once dinner was over, the two ate some cookies before Nepeta went up to her room to shower. Her mother put away the dishes and retired to her own bedroom for the night. Nepeta sighed with relief as the hot water warmed up her body, and she stood in place for a few minutes before grabbing the shampoo and lathering it into her short, brown hair. Today was an interesting day and gave her a break from the normal, mundane routine. She did love spending time with all those cats at her job and was thrilled every time new cats came in or cats she'd seen before. Now she had a new co-worker, and he seemed to be pretty nice under that harsh looking exterior. He'd gotten along well with her, and she hoped that would continue while they worked together. She began scrubbing her legs and thought about Terezi's interactions with Karkat. She did seem to be intrusive of his personal space, and she didn't seem to care whether he was bothered by it. Maybe that was a regular thing between them, but Karkat seemed to be more irritated than he was when Terezi kept ruffling his hair. Perhaps she would ask Terezi about it tomorrow sometime and see what she said about it. If they were having relationship problems, then maybe she could help them sort it out.

She rinsed off her body and turned off the water with reluctance. Luckily, the bathroom was still warm from the steam that the hot water created, and she pulled her towel off the rack and wrapped it snugly around her body. Slowly, she pulled back the shower curtains and stepped out of the tub and began drying off more before putting her pajamas back on. Ubasti found her way upstairs and was sitting across the hall from the bathroom door with her tail wrapped neatly around her legs. Nepeta smiled and picked up the silver tabby before heading to her room. Ubasti licked her owner's cheek, and Nepeta smiled and kissed the cat's head before slowly flopping onto the bed and releasing her grip on the feline. She rolled onto her side and stared at pictures of her friends and family sitting on her dresser. Various frames depicted Nepeta at different ages and on school functions or with her sister Meulin or with old classmates. Her lips curved into a smile as she saw a picture of her at a park with Terezi, her best friend Equius, and Equius' neighbor Vriska Serket. Equius stood looking as dignified as possible, Nepeta stood pleasantly next to him, Terezi had her arm slung around Nepeta's shoulders, and Vriska held up four fingers on each hand while sticking out her tongue and grinning. She yawned and crawled underneath her covers before reaching over to turn off her lamp and turn on her alarm clock. Tomorrow she would see Karkat and the rest of her co-workers once again, and she was looking forward to getting to know the green- eyed ginger more.

* * *

Notes:

Priscilla Leijon-Pounce de Leon

Cerdic Vantas-Crabdad

Ubasti is a variation of Bastet

I had a hard time choosing from my thre headcanons for Karkat: brown hair brown eyes, albino, and redhead green eyes. I decided to go with redhead Karkat.

Terezi was going to be blind, but she's human and probably needs a lot more than just smelling and hearing or reading braille to be a herpetologist and will not be blind.


	2. Heart of The Lioness

Chapter 2: Heart of the Lioness

Nepeta smelled the air of the house and was met with the scent of apples and cinnamon as she leaned back against the couch. Her eyes closed for a few moments as she waited for her ginger-haired co-worker to finish getting ready for work. It was pleasant sitting in the Vantas household, and she liked having the opportunity to see inside Karkat's house. His father had already left for work, so she didn't have a chance to meet him. She was surprised to learn that Karkat still lived with his father just like she still lived with her mother, however, it brought her a sense of comfort knowing that she wasn't the only one who had not moved out yet. Terezi had a place of her own, but Nepeta guessed that Karkat was not comfortable with the thought of moving in with her. He probably still needed his personal space from her because of her intrusive actions and tendency to not stop messing around with him when he asked. A loud crash sounded from the hallway as well as a few expletives, and a smile formed on her face as she sat with her eyes closed. Karkat finally stumbled into the living room and stood in front of Nepeta trying to regain his composure. He looked her over and it appeared that her clothes today consisted of a light pink blouse tied at the collar with a bow of the same color, a black skirt with white polka dots that ended above her knees, a thin black headband with a small white bow and black polka dots, and chocolate brown heels.

"I swear we're going to be late if you stay asleep like that, Nepeta," He grumbled.

Her eyes opened," I was just dozing until you finished getting dressed, Karkat."

"What is it with that outfit you're wearing?"

"Hm? I didn't think it looked that bad. I guess I could ask what Kanaya thinks of this when we get to work."

He sighed," There's no need. You look fine, so let's just get going."

Nepeta stood up from the couch and grabbed her purse and keys before walking out the front door, and Karkat followed behind her. She slid into the driver's seat and started up the car while Karkat slid into the passenger seat and buckled up. They sat in the car for a few moments while waiting for it to warm up a little, and Nepeta checked her makeup. Karkat did think Nepeta looked cute today, but he smacked his head against the dashboard as he realized that. _Idiot you have a girlfriend, and you're not even interested in Nepeta. Wait, I can still think she looks cute even though I have a girlfriend right? No, that's not a thing that I'm allowed to do! Well, if I just compliment her that's fine right? It's not like I'm cheating on Terezi by doing that right?_ He thought while keeping his head against the dashboard. Nepeta looked at him with concern and placed a hand on his shoulder, and Karkat sat up straight from her touch. He turned to look at her, and she merely smiled at him and asked if he was alright. He muttered a 'yeah' and sat facing forward as Nepeta began to back out of the driveway and drove out of the street. He remained quiet for the rest of the drive which wasn't a normal thing for him, but Nepeta didn't seem to mind his silence. She pulled into the parking lot of their job and got out of the car with Karkat, and they both walked into the building together. Terezi walked over to the two as they began walking into the elevator.

"Good morning you two!" she greeted.

"Morning,Terezi!" Nepeta greeted in return.

"Did you two arrive here at the same time?"

"I actually drove Karkat to work today since he's having car troubles, so we're going to be arriving to work together until he gets his car fixed. I'm sorry I hope that's okay with you."

"No, I'm okay with it! Just don't start making out with him, or I'll be angry with you."

"Hee hee that won't be a purroblem!"

"Oh I'm not so sure about that. You're looking pretty cute today, Miss Leijon!"

"Why thank you, Terezi!"

"You two are so weird!" Karkat snapped.

"I love you too, Crabby Mcgingerhead!"

"Now, Terezi, what did we say about calling people names?"

"GC apologizes to the adorable cat boarder and hopes she can forgive her," Terezi said with a slight pout.

"AC furrgives the wonderful herpetologist," Nepeta grinned.

"Aren't you two supposed to be adults?" Karkat asked, slightly irritated.

"We're just having a little fun, Karkat, there's no need to be so grumpy!"

Karkat groaned and turned away from the two women, and he was glad when the elevator finally dinged and opened its doors. He stormed out of the elevator and proceeded to go the wrong way down the hallway, so Nepeta quickly went after him before he got himself completely lost. He heard Nepeta calling out to him, but he was too irritated to bother listening to her and kept walking. She increased her speed and stopped right in front of him while placing her hands on his shoulders. He bore his green gaze into hers, but she held his angry glare calmly without a single word. They both stood in the hallway for at least a minute until Karkat finally broke his gaze and looked off to the side, and Nepeta took her hands off his shoulders. She began walking to her office, and he followed behind her in silence. His second day of work was not starting off well, but that was mainly his fault for storming off and getting irritated over little things. He walked into his office as Nepeta closed the door to hers and sat down at his desk to begin the paperwork he found sitting in a stack. An hour passed before a knock came to his door, and he stood up to answer it. Nepeta stood before him and turned to walk down the hallway to the cat boarding room, and he followed behind her just as he did the day before. Aradia stopped Nepeta before she walked inside, and Karkat proceeded to start on checking the roll for the cats. He assumed Aradia had brought Nepeta somewhere else because she didn't come in after a few minutes, so he began to open up cages to let out a set of cats for feeding.

Nepeta arrived after half an hour with some cat carriers, and Karkat walked over to help lighten her load. They carefully sorted the cats into different cages shared with some other cats and put the carriers with the others. Once the first set of cats were done feeding, Karkat began putting them back into their cages, and Nepeta started cleaning up the dishes and put fresh food into them. She assisted Karkat with letting the second set of cats out and made kissing noises to urge them over to the food. Karkat felt that he would look embarrassing trying to coax the cats with noises, so he picked up any stubborn or reluctant ones and brought them over to the food. This plan went well until one tom got feisty and left a nasty scratch across his cheek, and Nepeta quickly took the tom away from Karkat and unceremoniously dumped it on the floor. The tom hissed at her, and she hissed back before giving a scolding. She walked back over to Karkat and assessed how bad the scratch on his face was. He stood there squeezing his eyes shut from the pain, and Nepeta led him out of the room by the arm and made sure to lock the door before she left. She brought him to the ladies room despite his protests and ran a paper towel under warm water to dab his cheek with. Karkat flinched away from Nepeta as she brought the paper towel near, but she held onto his arm and brought him back over. He stood still and shut his eyes tightly again as Nepeta dabbed carefully at his cheek and made sure to clean up as much blood as possible. She brought him to her office and had him sit while she grabbed a first aid kit from a drawer in her desk. He began to roll away from her on the swivel chair he sat on but ended up rolling into the wall as Nepeta came over with hydrogen peroxide and a cotton ball. She frowned slightly then smiled as she carefully dabbed at his cheek once more, and he clenched his teeth together to keep from complaining from the pain. After all, Nepeta was only trying to help him, and she finished dabbing at his cheek.

"There we go! The worst part is over, and you can stop trying to get away from me," she spoke playfully.

He sighed and relaxed his tensed up body, and she placed a gauze pad over his cheek to prevent any more bleeding or infections. He thanked her and she smiled and walked out of the office with him in tow, and they headed back to the cat boarding room. Much to his relief, Karkat was not scratched by any of the cats again while he was caring for them with Nepeta. He and Nepeta finished up the first half of their daily routine quickly, but there was still some time before lunch began. Nepeta grabbed Karkat's hand and pulled him down the hallway to the elevator, and he stood beside her slightly confused as she pressed the button for the ground floor. Once the doors opened, she pulled him to the right and through a set of glass doors with some fish shapes printed on them. He assumed this area was where the aquarium was, and Nepeta brought him through another door with a push bar. Inside, the walls were painted a shade of turquoise with coral and anemones and some generic fish. A bench sat against the wall for those who wanted to sit and watch the fish for awhile and not block the path for those who wanted to walk through the exhibit. Nepeta sat down on the bench, and Karkat took his place beside her. Fish of all different, shapes, sizes, and colors swam through the water and weaved in and out of seaweed and other plant life. Karkat wondered what the purpose of Nepeta bringing him here was, and he turned to look at her. She sat quietly with her ankles crossed, hands folded neatly in her lap, and her gaze drifted to the multitude of aquarium fish swimming before her. The overall atmosphere was very calming, and Karkat realized that was the reason why Nepeta brought him here. He tensed up defensively and thought angrily that he didn't need to be calmed down, but he realized that his thoughts were contradictory and relaxed his posture.

Nepeta stood up after a little while, and Karkat did the same as he followed her to the cafeteria. He felt relaxed now after staring at the fish for awhile, and he hoped nothing would ruin it. He had his doubts, however, that something would come along and ruin it for him. Nepeta grabbed her food for the day and walked over to a table where a muscular man with long hair sat. Karkat furrowed his eyes in confusion and cautiously sat on the opposite side of her. The man sitting to the right of Nepeta appeared to be glaring, and Karkat shrank slightly underneath his condescending gaze. He was wearing shades, but Karkat just knew there were eyes behind those dark lenses boring into his soul. Nepeta didn't seem to notice as she greeted the man beside her and began eating. Aradia waltzed over to the table with a man that Karkat recognized to be Sollux Captor, and the two sat across from the trio already at the table. He hoped he wouldn't have to deal with anyone at this table aside from Nepeta. Aradia wasn't too bad, Sollux could be unbearable at times, and he felt uncomfortable with the muscular man wearing sunglasses indoors.

"Nepeta, I presume the man beside you is our new employee?" the muscular man spoke.

"Yes, Equius, this is Karkat Vantas," Nepeta responded cheerfully.

Karkat glanced over and immediately looked back down to his plate. The food before him suddenly became very interesting.

"Karkat, this is my best friend Equius Zahhak! He does maintenance and occasionally makes robots fur certain things."

Karkat looked up reluctantly," It's nice to meet you, Equius."

Equius lowered his shades," If you give her any trouble, then you'll have me to answer to Mr. Vantas. I won't have you hurting her feelings."

He audibly gulped," Yes sir, I won't do anything to hurt her feelings."

He pressed his shades back into place," Good. Then I should hope that I never see her crying because of an incident with you."

"Oh Equius, stop trying to scare him off. He hasn't even done anything remotely close to hurting my feelings."

"You know I care about your well-being, Nepeta."

"Yes, I know you do, Equius. I can handle myself you know."

"I know you still live with your mother, but you should really consider getting a place of your own."

She sighed," I know that, and I will do that on my own time."

"I'm sorry to bother you about it."

"Equius, I'm sure she'll be able to move out when she's good and ready," Aradia smiled.

"Yes, and I am sure she is quite capable of finding a boyfriend on her own," Equius countered.

"Hey maybe we could stop talking about me and talk about someone else? Karkat, do you have any siblings?" Nepeta asked quickly.

"Yes, I have one annoying brother named Kankri, but he doesn't work here."

"I believe my sister tried to go out with him once, but that didn't work out so well."

"He claimed to be celibate or whatever for some reason."

"Well, I suppose he broke his vow of celibacy because he's going out with my sister," Aradia said as she took a bite of her salad.

"Damara's dating again?"

"Yes, she said that she finally convinced him to go out with her."

"She's going to need a lot of luck if she's going to handle Kankri's long rambling," Karkat sighed.

Lunch break came to a close, and Nepeta returned to her floor with Karkat. They returned to the boarding room and finished up the remainder of their routine. Nepeta exited the room while Karkat was cleaning up some toys, and she told him to grab shampoo from the cabinet. He opened up the cabinet and sincerely hoped that they were not about to give a cat a bath, but he realized that was exactly what they were about to do. He decided to roll up his sleeves ahead of time, but he was sure they were to get wet anyways. Nepeta returned with a metal tub and some towels, and Karkat spread out one of the towels on the floor for her. Nepeta placed the tub in the center of the towel and instructed Karkat to run the water from the sink until it was warm enough to use the hose to fill up the tub. He nodded and walked over to the sink to allow the water to run for a bit. A cage opened at the other end of the room as Nepeta took out the cat which was instructed to be bathed. The cat was not declawed, and she hoped there wouldn't be any more scratching incidents as she brought the cat onto the floor and closed the cage. Karkat brought the sink hose over to the tub and began spraying the warm water into it, and the cat who was to take a bath started meowing. Nepeta began laughing and kept an eye on the cat while she began to take off her blouse. Karkat froze and wondered why Nepeta was taking off her blouse at a time like this.

"Nepeta, what are you doing?"

"I'm taking off my blouse, so I don't get it wet. Relax I'm wearing a tank top underneath, so it's not that awkward. You can take off your shirt if you'd like."

He stared at her in disbelief for a few moments as he continued to fill up the tub with warm water, and she brought over the meowing cat. He shrugged his shoulders as he put up the hose and took off his shirt while Nepeta carefully lowered the still meowing cat into the water, and he folded his shirt up and placed it on the counter before heading over to help her out. The cat squirmed and hissed , but Nepeta kept a strong grip on it while Karkat poured some of the shampoo into his palm before lathering the cat's fur. Eventually, the cat stopped squirming, but it persisted with meowing and hissing. Karkat brought over the sink hose and handed it to Nepeta before quickly turning on the sink, and Nepeta carefully rinsed the cat's fur thoroughly. She took the cat out of the tub, and Karkat dries his arms and put his shirt back on before carrying the tub out of the room. Nepeta stayed behind to dry the cat with a towel then proceeded to finish drying it off with a hair dryer. She ran a brush through the cat's fur carefully and carried the cat back to its cage when she was finished. Karkat walked back into the room as Nepeta pulled her blouse back on and carefully smoothed it out. She smiled to him again, and he stepped out of the room as she walked out and locked the door.

"Do we do this every day that we come here, or is there other things we do around this building?" He asked.

"Oh no, this is our week to take care of the boarding cats, and on other weeks we might groom other animals, do paperwork, or work at the front desk. We also get the chance to be judges at animal shows, and I usually judge at the cat shows."

"Well we certainly have interesting jobs. It's really weird."

"I know it is puretty weird to work here, but I have fun doing it."

"Why do you insist on using those stupid cat puns?"

"I used them quite frequently when I was younger, and I suppose they've sort of stuck with me now. Hee hee I suppose that's lowered any chances of my getting a boyfriend anytime soon, but I don't really mind."

"They're ridiculous and you should stop."

"I will stop whenever I want to! It's not like I use them in every single sentence I say, and I can control myself."

He rolled his eyes and groaned," You really should stop."

"Hey let's go visit Terezi or something! I'm sure she'll enjoy seeing you for a little bit befur we leave the building!"

She grabbed his arm, and he shouted in protest as she dragged him to the elevator and pressed the button for the fifth floor where the herpetarium was located. Karkat decided to be dragged through the hallways once more as Nepeta looked around for Terezi. She walked around and passed a few terrariums containing lizards, and he flinched slightly at the sight of some of the snakes. Eventually, Nepeta spotted Terezi as she rounded a corner, and she increased her speed to catch up with the redhead.

"Terezi, I have a surprise fur you!" Nepeta called out.

"Oh! Hey, Nepeta, Karkat, what are you two doing down here?"

"I brought Karkat to visit you!"

Karkat smiled," Hey."

"Aww! That's so sweet of you, Nepeta!"

"Oh it was no purroblem!"

"How was your day today, Karkat?"

"My day was fine. I did my normal routine with Nepeta and the cats."

"That's good to know, Karkat. Honestly, I thought you'd invest a job working with crabs because of your crabby temper."

He glared," I can work with cats if I want to, and I can have a job not relating to my short and 'crabby' temper!"

"I am just _teasing _you, Karkat, there's no need to get so worked up about it silly!"

"Well there comes a point when your constant pointing out of my crabbiness and short temper gets _annoying_, and I really wish you would stop!"

"Look at you getting all angry and red-faced after all the trouble Nepeta went to in bringing you up here to see me."

"I didn't know she was planning on bringing me here! Besides, she is my ride home, and it would be rude to inconvenience her by taking up more of her time than needed!"

"Oh no, Karkat, I wouldn't have minded waiting a little while if you were planning to visit Terezi."

"I'm so sorry that this has gotten out of hand, Nepeta."

"I wouldn't say this was getting too out of hand, but you might want to take the teasing down a notch. Karkat was just fine with his temper until you started mentioning things he gets irritated about."

"You're right, Nepeta, I was being a bit mean. I'm sorry for teasing you, Karkat, will you forgive me?"

He heaved a sigh," I forgive you, Terezi, I guess I was being a bit too sensitive."

"Well, don't give Nepeta too much trouble while she drives you home today," she kissed his forehead quickly before leaving to continue her work.

Nepeta gave Karkat an apologetic look, but he shrugged it off and began walking back to find the elevator. He loved Terezi, but she could get on his nerves sometimes. She had a way of picking at things that bothered him, yet he still loved the way she looked, her laugh, and her personality. There were some good points to her personality that were not her teasing, and he preferred to focus on that instead of the negative part. There was no way he'd be able to keep up a relationship by only looking at the flaws. Once more, he and Nepeta walked out into the freezing air of winter, and white snow sparkled everywhere. He slid into the passenger seat as Nepeta started up the car and turned on the heater. Their breath came out in small clouds as they exhaled into the frosty external air, but it gradually disappeared as the car began to warm up. Soon, they were pulling out of the parking lot and began to drive home. Buildings and lights passed by in a colorful blur as Karkat felt his eyelids growing heavy, and he eventually fell asleep during the ride home. A hand gently shook him awake, and his green eyes shot open to see Nepeta. He realized he was home now, and he opened the car door while uttering a thanks for the ride and walked into the house. Nepeta smiled after him and pulled out of the driveway to head back to her house. Ubasti trotted over and wound herself around Nepeta's legs, which prompted a smile and scratch behind the ears from her owner. The silver tabby purred affectionately then pranced into the living room while Nepeta followed behind.

Nepeta found her mother asleep on the couch and draped a blanket over her sleeping form before planting a kiss on her cheek and heading upstairs to change. She gratefully slid out of her heels and tossed her clothes to the floor while shuddering from the sudden temperature difference in her room. The house was warm, but she had a window seat in her room which allowed some cold air to flow into her room. She decided to take a shower and grabbed a long-sleeved nightgown from her dresser before heading into the hallway bathroom. Her mind wandered back to the earlier confrontation with Terezi and Karkat as she stepped into her warm shower. She was aware that Terezi and Karkat were a couple, yet they didn't seem to act like it. Karkat appeared to be the only one interested in the romantic aspect of their relationship, and Nepeta did not remember Terezi ever bringing up the subject of having a boyfriend. Granted, she and Terezi had grown somewhat estranged with each other despite being co-workers, but Terezi never seemed to talk to her as much as she used to. Occasionally, she would come and sit wherever Nepeta was, but she didn't seem too interested in conversing about anything. Perhaps she was getting too boring for Terezi to talk with? She knew Terezi had known Vriska a lot longer, and maybe she was just closer to Vriska than herself. The thought made Nepeta upset as she scrubbed her arms, for she didn't want to lose a good friend of hers. A lot of people had seen her as weird for loving cats so much and shipping people, but she wasn't actively trying to get people into relationships. That would be rude and inconsiderate of other people's feelings, but shipping never stopped Nepeta from looking at the possibilities of who would look cute together. Sometimes people would ask her for relationship advice, and she would do her best to give out good advice.

She sincerely hoped that Terezi would listen to Karkat more and stop teasing him and touching him when he told her to stop. He needed his space too, and Terezi seemed to not respect that at times. Perhaps it would help if she tried talking with Terezi for a little bit about Karkat, and it would give her a good chance to be able to have a legitimate conversation with her for once. This would give her a chance to salvage their somewhat estranged friendship, and she shut off the water with a smile and grabbed her towel. After she put on her clothes and returned to her room, Nepeta discovered that her phone had received a message. She grabbed her phone and plopped down onto the bed to see who had texted her while she was in the shower.

CT: D-} Nepeta, are you doing anything important?

AC: :33 { I was in the shower sorry!

CT: D-} That is perfectly fine with me. I was not waiting very long.

AC: :33 { What did you need?

CT: D-} I just wanted to make sure that Vantas boy isn't causing you any trouble.

AC: :33 { Equius, he's not causing me any trouble.

CT: D-} Alright, I am merely checking on you. I don't want you getting hurt.

AC: :33 { I appurreciate your concern, but you tend to overdo it.

CT: D-} No I do not.

AC: :33 { Yes you do.

CT: D-} No

AC: :33 { Yes

CT: D-} No

AC: :33 { Yes

CT: D-} No

AC: :33 { No

CT: D-} Yes

AC: :33 { No

CT: D-} Yes

AC: :33 { No

CT: D-} Yes, I do, Nepeta, and that is final.

AC: :33 { Good! I'm glad you agree with me! I have to go eat dinner now, so I'll talk to you later!

CT: D-} Wait, what?

CT: D-} Nepeta

CT: D-} Nepeta, return immediately!

CT: D-} Fiddlesticks.

Nepeta sauntered downstairs and into the kitchen to grab something for dinner. Her mother was still asleep on the couch, but that was fine because there was enough leftovers for her when she woke up. She sat at the table and dug into the baked chicken from the night before, letting out a satisfied noise as she tasted it; dinner always tasted better on the second day. Another thing she needed to consider was moving out of the house. Her mother was right that she needed to get a place of her own soon, but she didn't want her mother living all by herself. Her mother had entertained the thought of living with Equius' father, so she really had no excuse for not moving out. It was high time for her to be leaving the den, and Meulin had already moved out before her. Of course, Meulin was older than her and married, so those were obvious reasons for her to be moving out. She threw away the scraps leftover from her food and put away her dishes, and she paused for a moment behind the couch in the living room. Maybe the reason why she didn't want to move out was because she was so close to her mother and she didn't want to leave. College made her miss her mother a lot, but she did move back into the house. Now she would have to move out for good ,and she was nervous about not being able to see her mother every day. Her throat tightened momentarily, and she stood behind the couch staring at her sleeping mother. _I'll get to call her anytime I need to talk to her. There's no reason for me to be upset. I'm an adult now, and I need to move out of the house. Besides, it'll be harder for me to leave if I stay here for too long. _She thought to herself before walking upstairs to her bedroom. It was still early for bed, but she didn't feel like staying up any longer.

Her face felt wet and she wiped away the tears as she crawled beneath her covers. She was slightly angry with herself for crying over having to find her own place soon, but she couldn't help it. It had been a long time since she'd actually cried, so she decided to let the tears run their course as she fell asleep. Light footsteps sounded in front of her room after she'd completely fallen asleep, and her door was slowly eased open. Her mother walked over to her sleeping daughter and wiped away the tears on her cheeks. She stroked her bangs affectionately and kissed her cheek , and she watched Nepeta sleep for a few minutes.

"You've grown so much, Nepeta, and I'm so proud of you. I know you're scared to leave the house, but you will adjust well. You may call me anytime you like, and I'll talk to you as long as you need to. Meulin cried in her sleep when I brought up the subject of her moving out. You're strong, my little kitten, and I know you'll be just fine on your own," she murmured softly before standing up and quietly closing the door behind her.

It was Saturday now, so there was no need for an alarm clock. The part-time workers took care of Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays, so Nepeta was glad for a chance to sleep in this morning. She knew she couldn't sleep the entire day away, however, and her eyes opened to see sunlight falling through the window at the opposite end of her room. A glance at her clock said the time was 10:30 am, and she probably would have slept in longer if she'd gone to bed later. Ubasti was curled up on her butt, and there was no way for her to move without disturbing her. It was Ubasti's fault for sleeping on top of her in the first place, so she picked up the sleeping feline and cradled her. Ubasti opened her green eyes to stare up sleepily at her owner, and Nepeta smiled and tickled her belly, Ubasti squirmed a little and hopped out of Nepeta's arms, and Nepeta giggled and slid out of bed. She glanced into her full-length mirror and noticed that she had bed head, but she decided to ignore it and grabbed her phone before walking to the living room. Her mother appeared to be sleeping in as well, for she wasn't up right now. After a few minutes of watching TV, Nepeta's phone dinged, and she looked down to see who had messaged her.

GC: H3Y N3P3TA 4R3 YOU UP? 1F YOU 4R3 C4N 1 4SK YOU 4 F4VOR?

AC: :33 { Yes, I'm up. What is it, Terezi?

GC: K4RK4T C4LL3D M3 4ND TOLD M3 H3 W4S F33L1NG UND3R TH3 W34TH3R, BUT H3 R3FUS3S TO L3T M3 CH3CK ON H1M. DO YOU M1ND CH3CK1NG ON H1M FOR M3?

AC: :33 { Sure! I hope he's doing alright, but I'll check on him fur you!

GC: TH4NK YOU SO MUCH!

Nepeta glanced down at her clothes for a few moments, but she decided that she didn't need to change and only slid on some sandals before writing a short note for her mother and grabbing her keys. She locked the door to the house and walked outside in her nightgown to Karkat's street. It was sunny this morning, but the air was still cold and snow covered the yards and rooftops. She realized that she probably should have grabbed a jacket before leaving the house, but she was almost to Karkat's street. Nobody was outside in the neighborhood, and she was glad that no one would see her outside in only her nightgown and a pair of sandals. Karkat's father was probably at work today or went out for some other reason, but she hoped he wouldn't mind her coming over for just a little bit. She rang the doorbell and stood in front of the door shivering slightly from the cold air. Angry muttering and cursing sounded behind the door, and it finally opened to reveal Karkat in his pajamas and wrapped in a blanket. His hair was messy like hers was, and he had bags under his eyes. He was visibly shaking as he held the blanket around his form, and he looked exhausted. Nepeta immediately felt sympathetic for him, and she thought it was cruel for him to get sick on his first day off of work.

"Hi, Karkat, I hope you don't mind that Terezi sent me over to check up on you."

"I do mind a great deal because I told her not to send anyone over, but she wouldn't listen. Now that you've checked on me, you may go home now and enjoy your Saturday."

She smiled and shook her head," Is it alright if I help you out? You look tired, and I wouldn't mind taking care of you for the day."

"I don't need your help, Nepeta. I can manage being sick and getting over it on my own."

"Will you be fine with your dad being gone fur the day?"

"He left for a business trip last night, and he won't be back until Wednesday. I'll be fine on my own."

"Karkat, you need someone to look out fur you while you're sick. I'm sure you'll get better faster if you have someone taking care of you."

He coughed hoarsely," Do you really want to do this?"

She nodded," I have no purroblem with helping you out, Karkat!"

He sighed and stepped aside to let her in, and Nepeta walked into the house.

"Did you seriously walk all the way here in your nightgown and a pair of sandals?"

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing!"

"That's not a thing people normally do!"

"Nobody was outside, so it's not like anyone saw me!"

He sighed and closed the door before heading over to the couch and lying down.

"Have you taken your temperature yet?"

"No, I haven't, and I couldn't sleep last night."

"Do you have a thermometer?"

"It should be in the bathroom cabinet," he pointed in the direction of the bathroom.

Nepeta slipped off her sandals and walked over to the bathroom to look for the thermometer. Karkat sighed and wondered why she'd even bothered coming over here. She already helped him enough for the past few days, and she didn't have to help him anymore than he needed it. He coughed a few times before straightening out the blanket and resting his head on a pillow. Nepeta returned shortly and sat beside him on the couch. He sat up reluctantly and allowed her to put the thermometer under his tongue. She stood up to go make him soup in the kitchen, and he protested by saying he didn't need anything to eat. She told him to just relax and wait for his thermometer to beep, and she began grabbing ingredients from the cabinets to throw some soup together. He groaned and muttered something about her getting way too familiar with people's houses so quickly. The thermometer beeped while Nepeta was still cooking, and she walked out of the kitchen to see what Karkat's temperature was. His temperature read 103.8, so he had a pretty high fever at the moment. She briskly walked to the bathroom and ran a washcloth under cold water before wringing it out a little and returning to the living room to drape it over Karkat's forehead. He muttered a thank you, and she smiled and returned to the kitchen to finish up with the soup. He sighed and closed his eyes in hopes of getting some rest while Nepeta busied herself in the kitchen.

He was roused from his sleep not too long after, and Nepeta sat beside him with a bowl of soup. He would have argued with her about being able to feed himself, but he was far too tired to do anything. She fed him until he was too full and left to put away the rest of the soup in the fridge, and he fell back asleep and was grateful to get some rest. He slept for a long time and did not stir except for any occasional shift in his sleep, and Nepeta changed the washcloth on his forehead a few times while he slept. She sat on the other couch and watched TV on low volume while he slept in peace. He woke up again around 5:00 to see that Nepeta had fallen asleep herself. With a groan, he stood up quickly and rushed to the bathroom before he made a mess on the carpet and fell to his knees in front of the toilet. Nepeta's eyes shot open as she heard Karkat in the bathroom, and she slid off the couch to check on him. She didn't feel comfortable hearing it, but she went inside the bathroom and knelt beside Karkat placing a hand on his back and rubbing circles. He coughed and heaved into the toilet, and she calmly soothed him. After he was finished, He stood up and rinsed out his mouth before shakily settling to the floor again beside Nepeta. Nepeta hugged him close to her chest and gently rubbed his arm, but Karkat was too shaky to protest her touching him. She helped him to his feet and lead him to his bedroom, and he buried himself beneath his blankets. Nepeta brought him medicine, which he refused to take, but he finally caved and took the medicine. She asked if it was alright if she went home, and he told her it was fine with him.

She told him she would check on him in the morning and left his house to return home. A few minutes later, a red car pulled up in front of Karkat's house, and Terezi stepped out. She located the spare key under the mat and unlocked the door to check on him. He didn't appear to be in the living room, so she walked into his bedroom to see how he was. It was cute to see him nestled underneath his covers and sleeping peacefully, and she was glad he was doing alright. Something seemed off, however, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Karkat muttered something in his sleep, and Terezi bent down to hear what he was saying. It was awhile before he said anything again, but she couldn't hear anything close to any words. She frowned and leaned in closer to hear him better, but he stayed silent for a few minutes like before.

"Nepeta…"

She pulled away in surprise, but she relaxed because he had seen Nepeta earlier because she sent her over to visit him. There was no reason for her to be upset about Karkat muttering her friend's name. Although, she had to wonder why he had muttered Nepeta's name instead of her own, but she brushed it off as nothing and left the house. Nepeta was much too kind to do something despicable such as stealing someone's boyfriend, and Terezi had nothing to worry about. Still, she w_as _going to talk to Nepeta when she saw her on Tuesday about what she did today at Karkat's house. There was no reason to interrupt her weekend by bothering her about it now, but she would talk to her about it. For now, it was time for Karkat to rest and for her to be returning home.

* * *

I just gave Terezi a generic red car,so you can imagine what kind of car she has. It's not really that important.


	3. To Date a Dragon

Chapter 3: To Date a Dragon

Tuesday brought clouds in the morning, so a blizzard was not out of the question. There was a high chance of the roads being snowed in, but snow had not begun to fall yet. Nepeta walked solo down the hallway with some papers on her way to the herpetarium. Karkat was still recovering from his weekend illness, but he had recovered enough to return to work. He was stuck with helping Sollux since he and Nepeta were not solely in charge of taking care of the boarding cats this week. This was a great opportunity for Nepeta to talk with Terezi about her treatment of Karkat and their relationship issues. She had to make sure that Terezi was able to see how she was acting and how irritated she made him feel. Terezi on the other hand had her own reasons for talking to Nepeta today, and she was going to inquire about her visit to Karkat's place on the weekend. There was really nothing for her to worry about because she knew Nepeta wouldn't try anything funny, and Karkat loved her too much not to cheat. Although, she still had her doubts and needed confirmation that Nepeta hadn't done anything intimate with Karkat. Nepeta walked into the herpetarium while Terezi was busy examining a Komodo dragon, and she stood by while waiting for Terezi to call her over. She wondered how the situation would currently be standing if Karkat was the one assisting her today, but she didn't dwell on it for long and presumed he would already be in a fit over something. Lunchtime was approaching, and she was eager to have her conversation with Terezi. Terezi took the papers Nepeta held and walked into another room to put them away until she came back to them later.

She walked out of the office with a smile," Ready to head downstairs for lunch?"

"Yes, I am! Let's take the stairs today since I'm wearing boots with no heels today, and I took the elevator all through last week because I wore heels."

"That's fine with me! Let's go then."

The two women walked downstairs to the first floor and arrived at the cafeteria. They grabbed their lunches and sat down at a table isolated in a little corner from the others. Hopefully no one would decide to sit with them, or they would stay out of their business while they spoke to each other. It was imperative for each respective woman to speak with each other for the day. Some time passed by as they began eating their lunches before speaking to one another.

"How have you been doing with Karkat?" Nepeta began.

"I've been doing pretty well, but he still gets pretty cranky around me. He should stop being so tense all the time and relax a little. I wonder if he would be able to relax more by hanging out with Gamzee," Terezi sighed.

"I'm not sure that would work. He seems to get irritated just by reading texts sent from Gamzee, and that would definitely make his temper worse."

"I suppose that's true, but he really does need to stop being so sensitive about everything."

"I don't think he's being too sensitive. Have you noticed that you tend to overstep your boundaries? I mean there's nothing wrong with having physical contact with Karkat, but there is a point where it can be annoying to be touched. You have the tendency to ruffle his hair a lot and completely ignore how he feels when he tells you to stop touching his hair."

"Have I really been doing that? I guess I have been a _bit _much, but he should really talk to me if I've been doing that to him often."

Nepeta blinked in surprise," He does tell you to stop, and you seem to disregard his feelings and comfort."

"I suppose I saw this coming when I first started dating him. We've always been at odds even before we started dating. He still loves me so much, and I couldn't hurt his feelings."

"Do you reciprocate those feelings that he shows you?"

"I did at first, but now I'm having my doubts. Perhaps it's spurred on by the fact that we fight so much. I can't remember the last time we even went on a date."

"You could try planning a date sometime! It'll give you two to talk about your feelings with each other and strengthen your relationship with each other."

Terezi nodded," Alright, I will speak to him about that. Thank you for helping me out."

She paused to take a sip of her strawberry Fanta.

"By the way, what did you do over at Karkat's house when I asked you to check on him during the weekend?"

"Hm? Oh I stopped by like you asked me to, but he looked so miserable. I decided to help him out a bit by taking care of him like making him soup, making him take medicine, and allowing him to rest. I couldn't just let him stay sick like that. Besides, I'm purretty sure Kanaya would have bothered him a bit more than I did by babying him, but he's a grown man. I cared for him, but I made sure not to overdo it. Hee hee he purrobably would have been ticked if I kept asking if he was cold, or if he needed me to rock him back and forth."

"I wouldn't put it past Kanaya to do something like rocking him back and forth like a baby."

"Why did you ask?"

"I went over to his house to check on him just in case he changed his mind about me visiting him, and he mumbled your name in his sleep."

"He mumbled my name? That's strange."

"Yes, I thought it was a little suspicious that the one name he spoke was yours, but I guess I had nothing to worry about."

Nepeta smiled," Of course you didn't! I wouldn't do anything to spite you, Terezi. You're one of my best friends, and I wouldn't betray you!"

"It's been so long since we've talked hasn't it? I'm glad we got to eat together today."

The ginger-haired herpetologist stood from the table and bid Nepeta farewell as she took her trash and left. Nepeta stood from the table as well after a few minutes and threw away her trash before leaving the cafeteria. A quick glance out the glass doors showed that the sky had darkened a little more, and that made her a little nervous. She hoped it would not start snowing too soon, but there was little chance of it not snowing today. On her way through the hallway on the third floor, she collided with Karkat, and he let out an expletive in surprise as he dropped a stack of papers he was carrying. She quickly apologized to him and assisted in picking up the scattered papers. He sighed and thanked her as she handed back the papers before walking past her. She smiled and carried on with her business as she walked to her office and sat down. As she scooted closer to the desk, she quickly looked at the pictures of cats pinned to the corkboard in front of her; she would have to change them out soon. Her lips curved into a smile as she fondly regarded the light green mouse pad with white paw prints. She had a lot of things that were green, but she liked to wear other colors besides green. Today her outfit was a powder blue blouse with white lace around the collar reaching to the shoulders, a dark gray, knee-length skirt, light gray boots, and a green choker with black lace and a silver bell. The choker was a birthday present from Equius, and she gently tapped the bell, which jingled softly. Perhaps she had too many cat related things and was a bit childish in carrying over her use of cat puns into adulthood. It was time for her to grow up and stop acting like she was thirteen again.

She sighed and continued typing away at her computer because she had no time to be thinking about those things. Typing away at the computer was tedious work at times, and it seemed like the day had gone into slow motion. She hoped the day would just end soon as her fingertips flitted across the keyboard, and she wondered how Aradia could stand to type so much in a single day. She was even more amazed at how fast Sollux's fingers went whenever he hacked or coded things. She would probably never understand since she wasn't as interested in computers as he was. It's not like she was a hacker, programmer, or whatever Sollux's computer related occupation was. After another thirty minutes, she decided to take a little break and moved onto paperwork. This wasn't any more exciting than computer work, but she needed to rotate between the two in order not to begin nodding off from the boredom. White snowflakes drifted down from the dark clouds and pressed onto the freezing window pane while Nepeta went back to working. By the time she finished up her work, snow fell steadily from the sky, and she grabbed her purse and began to look for Karkat. She hoped to get home before it began snowing too hard, and driving on the roads in this weather was already dangerous. The ginger she was looking for rounded the corner with a satisfied grin on his face, and she assumed Terezi had spoken to him about going on a date.

"You look happy, Karkat."

"I've got a date this weekend, and hopefully the snow will have cleared up by then."

"Well, that's good that you're spending time with your girlfriend!"

"Hey do you mind helping me out in getting prepared for the weekend? I have a good plan that you'd probably see out of a rom com, but you can help me polish it a little and work out any flaws it may have."

Her face lit up," You watch rom coms?"

He blushed in realization," Yes, I do watch rom coms! There's nothing wrong with that!"

She giggled," I wasn't making fun of you fur watching rom coms, Karkat. I like watching them too!"

"Well it's nice to see you have a good taste in movies."

"I have no purroblem with helping you polish up your date plans, but are you really comfortable with asking me to help? I don't want to be a nuisance."

He shook his head," Normally, I'd be against having someone helping me out, but you're an exception."

"Well I'm flattered to hear that."

They began to walk downstairs to the ground floor.

"By the way, I want to thank you for helping me out on the weekend. I know I probably protested and cussed you out, but I really appreciate your help."

She giggled, "You protested a little bit, but you were surprisingly quiet"

"I guess that means I'm as silent as a deaf cat."

He was met with the smack of a rolled up magazine, and whirled around to see Meulin. She stood before him with a mock angry face and the rolled up magazine in her hand.

"I heard that, Mr. Vantas," she said pointing to her hearing aids.

He stared at her in shock," I'm so sorry for being such an idiot!"

Meulin relaxed and smiled," I'm just playing with you! Just be glad your brother wasn't here to lecture you."

He nodded still mildly shocked, and Meulin left Karkat and Nepeta to walk upstairs. Nepeta tapped Karkat on the shoulder to remind him that they were still leaving, and he proceeded to follow her out to the parking lot. The snow was falling rapidly as they walked across to Nepeta's car, and Karkat had to catch Nepeta from slipping on the way there. She smiled at him sheepishly, and he sighed while telling her to be more careful. Heat circulated through the car and enveloped the two like a warm blanket as they sat in Nepeta's car waiting for it to warm up. Karkat glanced over to see white sprinkled all over Nepeta's brown hair which gave off the appearance of a pastry covered in powdered sugar. He pulled down the sun visor and peered into the mirror to check his hair which looked like a carrot speckled with powdered sugar. _How nauseating_. He thought with disgust. Nepeta pulled out of the parking lot as she normally did, and Karkat pushed the sun visor back into place. It aggravating how Nepeta looked more attractive than he did when covered in snow. However, she deserved to look like that, and he thought she looked even prettier today. His days of carpooling with Nepeta would soon be over since his car was almost fixed, and he was somewhat disappointed that he wouldn't be able to see her at his house in the morning. Although, he shouldn't feel disappointed since he was in a relationship with Terezi in the first place, but he did start considering Nepeta as a friend. She wasn't a close friend just yet, but he hoped she would be available for him if he was having a terrible day. Once again Nepeta pulled into Karkat's driveway and told him that she would see him tomorrow at work, but the only difference was him driving to work by himself instead of carpooling. He waved goodbye as she left and entered his house.

oOoOoOo

Her alarm clock had not gone off, and that was very strange. She rolled over to see that her clock read 10:45 and was surprised that her mother had not woke her up from sleeping in. Today _was _Wednesday wasn't it? She walked over to her window and thrust open the curtains with one knee on the window seat. White completely covered her street and came up to the windowsill outside, and a few lazy snowflakes drifted down from the cloudy sky. Nepeta sat down on her window seat with a sigh of relief; her mother turned off her alarm clock to allow her to sleep in. A snow day during the time she was required to work proved to be just as exciting as one that occurred during a school day. Something chocolate scented flowed into her room, and she assumed it was hot cocoa. She picked up Ubasti who struggled a little in protest and walked out of her bedroom. One thing she did not expect was the sound of a male voice in her household, and she wondered if her mother had invited someone over. It had to be one of their neighbors because there was too much snow to drive anywhere, and she wanted to know how her mother got the door open. Ubasti hopped out of her arms with a little trill and sauntered off to the kitchen, and Nepeta followed behind in silence. How strange that the male voice sounded a lot like Karkat, but he couldn't possibly be at her house right now. She was proved wrong once she peeked into the kitchen to see Karkat talking to her mother.

"I haven't really considered moving out, and my father doesn't mind me still living with him as long as I help out with chores and such," he spoke.

Her mother sat across from him in her pajamas," Would you consider having a roommate if you did find your own place?"

"I might consider it, but that all depends on who I choose as a roommate. I have a low tolerance for idiocy, and some people bug the heck out of me."

"Hee hee you're just like your father, Karkat."

"You're like an older version of Nepeta," his eyes widened," I d-don't mean to say that you're old, but you are old. No, no it's just that there's an age gap between you and Nepeta, and you two happen to look alike because you're family! I just- I'll shut up now."

Nepeta had to stifle a laugh and hunched over as she covered her mouth.

"You get very flustered like your father too! I bet Terezi fell for you because of that."

"I apologize for calling you old. That was an accident."

"It's alright I understood what you were trying to say. I heard you were sick over the weekend, and I'm glad to see you're doing better."

"Yeah, Nepeta came over to help me out because Terezi sent her over. She didn't have to help me, but she insisted on it. I didn't mind her caring for me once she left. Usually when I get sick, Terezi will pop in to check on me for a few minutes and maybe we'll argue about my well-being, but she'll leave after a little while and go about her business."

"She doesn't seem to be entirely concerned about you. I suppose you could blame it on her being busy with work, but have you ever gotten sick during a time that she was off of work?"

"Yes, she has, and she does the same routine every time she visits, but I can't blame her for wanting to do something other than caring for me. I can handle myself being sick without anyone to care for me. Of course my dad takes care of me when I'm sick, but I only receive phone calls or texts that wish me to get well. I don't really mind it though because I know they have their own lives to attend to."

She tilted her head to the side, "Are you sure you're okay with that?"

"Yeah I've gotten used to it, so it doesn't bother me all that much. Although, I was surprised that Nepeta was willing to help me. She isn't so bad for a cat obsessed woman who still uses cat puns."

Nepeta rolled her eyes and shook her head with a small smile as she continued to eavesdrop on her mother and Karkat.

Her mother chuckled," She's always been very sweet to the people she knows. She won't let anyone walk all over her, and she's occasionally gotten herself into fights while protecting her friends."

"Nepeta used to get into fights? She's so tiny especially when she's not wearing heels! I never would have expected _her _of all people to be getting into fights."

"Oh yes she would get into fights, but she only did it if she had a good reason to. I taught her not to let anyone walk all over her or her friends, and she did well to stand up for them."

Nepeta decided that now would be a good time to walk in and make her presence known.

"Morning," she greeted.

"Did you sleep well, dear? I hope you don't mind that I turned off your alarm since we're snowed in."

"I slept well thank you, and I nearly panicked when I saw that my alarm was off. Luckily, I looked outside my window to see if there was any reason for it being turned off because I know I turned it on last night."

"I'm sorry for scaring you. I probably should have left you a note to let you know."

"Nice to see you in your pajama clad, bed headed glory, Nepeta," Karkat greeted.

She grinned," Nice to see you in your crab shirt clad, carrot topped glory, Karkat."

His face turned red with slight anger and embarrassment," It's not my fault I have freaky colored red hair!"

"Well, it's not my fault fur having a bed head."

"Cat obsessed freckleface."

"Crabby freckleface."

"You're short and use cat puns!"

"You're short and you yell a lot!"

"I DO NOT YELL A LOT!"

She raised an eyebrow"…"

He crossed his arms and looked off to the side," No, I don't. Put that eyebrow back down."

She giggled and sat down," You're so silly! What are you doing over here?"

"My dad's stuck at the airport because of the snow, so he told me to stay at your house until he got home. I don't know why he needed me to since I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, and I'm not sick anymore."

"Purrhaps he didn't want you to be lonely while he was away?"

He shrugged," I wouldn't have minded being alone."

"Well, at least he cares about you enough to worry about you being alone while he's still at the airport."  
"…I guess you're right about that. At least he cares about me even though we can get into pretty nasty arguments sometimes."

"Are you still going to tell me your plans with Terezi fur this weekend?"

"Yes, hopefully most of the snow will have cleared up by then, or we'll have to reschedule it."

Nepeta stood up to grab a box of cereal," What are you going to do with her first?"

"I'm picking her up on Saturday around eleven thirty for lunch."

"That sounds good," she poured the cereal into two bowls," What are you doing after lunch?"

" I was thinking of taking her to the botanical gardens, and afterwards we could go to the paint splatter museum. You know how she is with her love of colors."

"That sounds like a purrfect date! Is that all you have planned fur her?"

"Well, I was planning on taking her to my house afterwards to watch some rom coms together"

"That sounds like fun! I can't think of anything to add or take away from that, so it sounds like you're all set fur the weekend."

"Good, I'm glad I could get some feedback on this date plan."

"Well, now that we're finished discussing your weekend plans, what would you like to do now? I know you're going to be stuck here for awhile, and I was wondering if you wanted to do something."

"That sounds fine. Is it alright if we watched movies for a little while? I know I'm already going to be watching some this weekend, but I'll choose differently from that selection depending on what you have here."

Nepeta nodded and finished up her cereal and put away her dishes. Karkat did the same and walked into the living room with Nepeta, and she lead him over to the video cabinet to select some movies. Karkat scanned through the movies for a few minutes, and Nepeta sat on the couch to wait for him. He selected a few movies, closed the cabinet, and inserted the disc into the DVD player. He sat on the couch but made sure not to sit too close to Nepeta. He reminded himself that he shouldn't be so close to her since he had a girlfriend, and he had no reason to be sitting next to her in the first place. They were just watching movies together like any normal young adults, and there wasn't anything going on between them. Karkat watched the movie intently and occasionally mouthed the words to lines of dialogue he'd memorized over time. Sometimes he would glance over to see Nepeta doing the same, and that brought a smile to his normally grumpy face. He couldn't remember the last time he'd watched a rom com with one of his friends since most of them made fun of him for watching movies of this particular genre. At some point during the movie, he began to cry as he watched a particularly emotional part, and he glanced over to Nepeta with embarrassment to see if she was looking. She was in the same state, however, and sniffled as tears rolled down her freckled cheeks. Karkat relaxed and allowed his tears to flow freely, and Nepeta offered him a Kleenex box which he took gratefully. It was nice that he finally had a friend that enjoyed watching the same genre of movies as he did _and _did not make fun of him for crying over emotional scenes. He knew it would be different when he went on his date with Terezi on the weekend, but for now he was able to enjoy this moment.

When he saw Nepeta on his first day of work, he was very unsure that he would get along with her. She was one of those cheerful types that radiated sweetness, and he didn't get along with those people very well. Yet he got along with her perfectly fine, and she was completely helpful towards him. Now they were sitting in her living room watching a movie where people fall in love and comedic things happen, and they were crying together and sharing tissues. He was really glad he was able to get along with her and that she put up with his crabbiness. It was refreshing to see that she understood how angry he got sometimes and knew when to back off and leave him alone. She didn't persist in annoying ways like Terezi did, and she was actually not that bad to be around. He felt guilty for thinking negatively about her and assuming ridiculous things, but she was only trying to be helpful and act like a decent human being towards him. His earlier chat with her mother also reinforced a new point of view of the brunette sitting across the couch from him. He looked her over as she kept her eyes glued to the screen and contemplated on her appearance. She was shorter than him-by about three inches-and she had an average build. It was hard to tell if she had any prominent muscles due to her long sleeved pajamas, so he would probably have to wait until spring. He did recall that one time they bathed a cat together, and she took off her blouse for that. Although, he was focusing on bathing the cat instead of looking at her arms for any sign of defined muscles.

It was strange to see how comfortable she was with him, and he wondered why that was. They had not known each other for very long, yet she had driven him to work, calmly washed a cat in her tank top with him present, gone over to his house to take care of him while he was sick, and was currently watching his favorite genre of movies with him. What a strange young woman she was. Eventually, the movie ended, and Nepeta popped in another movie to watch. Karkat rubbed his face to relax the tight muscles from his crying and took a deep breath to relax. Nepeta glanced out the window to stare at the snow again while the movie previews played, and she noticed that it was snowing once again. Hopefully they wouldn't be trapped at home for too long. She returned her gaze to the TV but immediately brought her attention to the ringing phone beside Karkat. He glanced at the caller ID which revealed Terezi's name and immediately passed the phone over to Nepeta to answer. She took it from him and pressed the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Nepeta! I was wondering if you knew how Karkat was doing because he doesn't seem to be answering his cellphone or home phone."

"Oh his father had him come over to our house since he was by himself at his house, and his dad is cooped up at the airpurrt."

"May I speak to him please?"

She handed the phone over to Karkat, and he took it from her.

"Terezi?"

"Hi, Karkat, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing alright. How are you?"

"I'm doing well. I just wanted to check on you because you weren't answering your phones!"

"Sorry, I left my phone at home."

"That's alright! Are we still on for this weekend once the snow clears up?"

"Yeah, we are!"

"Alright, just checking. Oh and another thing, Karkat…"

"Yes, what is it?"

"I won't be happy if you get any ideas about Nepeta. You're not to touch her in any intimate way alright? She's a good friend of mine, and don't forget that I'm your girlfriend."

"I wasn't thinking of doing anything like that, Terezi. You know I love you."

"I love you too. Bye."

"Bye."

He pressed the button to end the phone call and set the phone back in its charger. Terezi was acting pretty odd, but maybe she was just jealous of him being close to Nepeta. He smiled at the thought of Terezi being worried about him hanging around another woman, which showed that she cared. It was strange, however, that his words sounds empty when he told her 'I love you'. He brushed it off as nothing and felt even more pumped about his upcoming date with her this weekend. She would definitely be reassured of his affections for her and not have to feel jealous of his blooming friendship with Nepeta.

oOoOoOo

He was glad the snow had finally cleared, but it was still irritating to be out in the cold. Luckily, the botanical gardens contained a section isolated inside a greenhouse for plants like cacti. He reluctantly stepped back into the cold as he and Terezi made their way to the paint splatter museum. Now his girlfriend stood in front of a piece staring intently at the splattered mess of colors before her, and he stood beside her with his hands casually in his pockets. She turned to him grinning, and he smiled at her. Thank goodness she was enjoying herself on this date, and his stay with Nepeta earlier in the week was not brought up again. Everything was going very smoothly, and he took pride in his date planning. Once they were finished going through the museum, he was going to take her to lunch and return to his house for movies. Terezi took his hand once again and pulled him over to a large sculpture of a dragon painted by the use of splattering technique like the rest of the art in the museum. She circled it several times like a buzzard descending upon its prey, and he stood by admiring the detail from a foot away. He couldn't stop smiling at how cute she looked marveling at the dragon sculpture in front of her. She'd always been interested in dragons, and lizards came as a close second for her. Her fondness for dragons spurred her on to become a herpetologist, and now she was living the dream working with lizards. His green eyes followed her movements, and he was being towed to the next exhibit after Terezi was finished looking at the dragon sculpture.

After several protests and eye rolling, Karkat agreed to buy Terezi the edible chalk from the museum gift shop, but he told her not to eat any of it until after lunch. She planted a kiss on his cheek and threw her arms around his neck in gratitude, and Karkat blushed sheepishly before exiting the museum and walking to his car. It was indeed very strange getting used to driving his own car again after getting used to carpooling with Nepeta. He mentally shouted at himself to not think about his cat obsessed co-worker while on a date with his girlfriend. This date was for him and Terezi only, and he shouldn't be thinking about anyone but her. Terezi punched him playfully on the arm, but it felt harder than what a playful punch usually would feel like. Maybe he was too sensitive, or Terezi just punched really hard. He rubbed his arm for a few seconds then proceeded to buckle up and drive out of the parking lot while Terezi sat in the passenger seat hugging her edible chalk. She was a crazy girl, but he loved her very much. Something nagged at his mind, but he chose to ignore it and not worry about whatever it was. He walked into the restaurant with her on his arm and had a little spat with her about sitting at a booth or a table. She won their argument and grinned in victory as they sat down at a table, and the waitress assisting them seemed to feel uncomfortable about their somewhat aggressive interactions. Come to think of it, he was sure that couples were not supposed to argue on dates.

They returned to his house after the restaurant, and he chose a new movie he had rented from the video store to watch with Terezi. It was hard for him not to cry during the emotional parts, but he did so anyways. He was surprised to see that Terezi hadn't made fun of him for crying this time, and she actually handed him a box of tissues this time. It was a relief that she was being sweet to him this time because she usually poked fun at his tears. He was glad to enjoy two more movies with her before standing up from his couch and dropping her off at her house. However, She pulled him inside and dragged him upstairs to her bedroom on the second floor of the three story house. He followed in confusion as she pulled him into her bedroom. He hesitated and told her that he needed to go home, but she refused to let him go without a sloppy make-out session. She was being silly, and he needed to start driving back. He couldn't resist her puppy eyes and decided that it wouldn't be for too long, and she planted a gentle kiss on the cheek before pinning him against the wall. Terezi had stupid ginger hair like he did-it was darker- as well as stupid freckles, stupid blue-green eyes that appeared to be teal, stupid lips that grinned who knew how many times a day, and a stupid name that he loved to say. He stopped her before anything further than kissing happened and told her he had to go. She nodded and allowed him to leave, and he slid off her bed to head downstairs. Her older sister Latula passed him and gave him a pat on the back and a thumbs up as she walked to the dining area with her fiancé Mituna.

The redhead continued out the door and into his car to head home. What an exhilarating day it had been today, and he received an unexpected surprise at the end of everything. His spirits were high and huge grin was plastered to his face as he drove back home. He'd have to talk to Nepeta about how successful his date was, and she would probably gush how cute they were together. If he talked about it to Sollux, he'd make some sarcastic comment about not going farther than a make-out session. Gamzee would probably be too stoned out of his mind to care, and he would most likely be angry after a chat with him. He didn't exactly feel comfortable talking with Kanaya about his love life either. Thus, Nepeta was the perfect candidate to talk about his date. She _had _approved of his plans for today, so he was sure that'd she'd be excited to find out how it went. _I won't be happy if you get any ideas about Nepeta. You're not to touch her in any intimate way alright? She's a good friend of mine, and don't forget that I'm your girlfriend. _He swerved suddenly to avoid straddling the middle line, and a few honks from cars behind him were heard. How strange for those words to pop into his mind again at a time like this. The date was over and successful, so why did that come flooding back to him? Terezi had no reason to be worried about him leaving her anytime soon.

Another thing that came to his mind was that Christmas was coming up soon. It was the second week of December, and he needed to think about getting presents for everyone soon. There were already Christmas lights hanging around buildings and houses, and other various Christmas decorations were spotted around town. He wasn't much of a cheerful holiday person, but he did enjoy the times he spent with his family on Christmas. Kankri would be coming over to his house, and he wondered if he would bring Aradia's sister Damara along with him. He shuddered nervously at the thought of the promiscuous young woman coming over. An incident that occurred with her previous boyfriend had left her with a broken heart, and his boss' older sister Meenah had contributed to the pain. The end result of the combined heartbreak and ceaseless bullying was her changing from a sweet and shy young lady to a brash woman of loose morals. Maybe Kankri would be able to take her behavior down a notch, and she would be able to make Kankri live a little. He couldn't get his hopes up too high and debated on having Terezi over for Christmas. Surely, there wouldn't be any problems with having her over for Christmas.

When he got to the house, he was surprised to see Kankri at the door, and he nearly slid on the patch of ice in front of the door as she stepped backwards. Kankri smiled and greeted Karkat politely before allowing him inside, but the shorter ginger stood dumbfounded in the freezing cold. Usually Kankri would immediately lecture Karkat on some unrelated topic as soon as he stepped into the door, but this time Kankri merely ushered him inside and asked how his day was. A fire was in the fireplace, and Karkat could see Damara sitting on the couch talking with their father. He answered Kankri's questions and agreed to help with getting dinner ready. They were not going to have a fancy holiday dinner until Christmas actually came, and he was fine with that because a normal dinner would be just as filling. He followed his brother to the kitchen and assisted with setting the table and grabbing drinks. He still wasn't ready to talk to Damara and was hoping that he wouldn't be brought into any conversations with her. Perhaps he could call up Aradia and ask for advice on how to deal with her sister, and he might even ask Kankri how to avoid upsetting her.

"She's not going to bite, Karkat."

He jumped, "Excuse me?"

"You appear to be concerned about Damara's presence inside the house, and I assure you that she will not bite."

"I'm not worried about her biting me."

"She's not going to harm you in any way."

"Is she going to kill me if I say something wrong?"

"Karkat, it's not nice for you to assume something so horrible about a person before even getting to know them. I assure you that she will be on her best behavior, and she is not going to kill you if you say something wrong. Do your best not to bring up anything about her past because she _is _sensitive about those topics, and I don't want you to make her upset. She is our guest here, and I don't want you giving her dirty looks for not doing anything wrong."

"She just makes me nervous!"

"You need to relax. It's not like she's going to start hitting on you either. She of all people would know better not to do that because of what happened to her. Just be nice to her and refrain from giving her any dirty looks. I want her to feel comfortable around my family, and you are a co-worker of her younger sister too. Everything will go smoothly as long as you don't bring up any uncomfortable topics, and I know you're not the type of person to do that. Oh, one other thing, Karkat."

"What is it?"

"I think you would look more presentable without lipstick marks on your neck and face."

Karkat blushed and quickly ran down the hall to the bathroom to examine his face, and he turned even more red as he stared into the mirror. At least his father had not seen him yet, and he was grateful that Kankri pointed out the marks before waltzing into the living room looking like this. Just a few moments ago he was worried about Damara's promiscuity, and here he was covered in reminders of his earlier make-out session with Terezi. He turned on the faucet and splashed water on his face, sputtering briefly at the droplets that went up his nose. He double-checked himself to be sure that there were no more lipstick marks covering his face and neck, and he made sure to straighten out his clothes a little more to look more presentable. Hopefully, Kankri wouldn't bring this up to his father during dinner or anytime soon, or he'd die from sheer embarrassment.

* * *

School has started up again, so I apologize for the delay. It'll take me longer to get chapters up unless there is a holiday.


	4. Christmas

Chapter 4: Christmas

"I'm glad your date went well, Karkat," Nepeta greeted him as he walked into her office.

Karkat wore a huge grin on his face and blushed," It really wasn't that big of a deal, but I did enjoy it. Thanks for your help."

She smiled and shook her head," It was no purroblem! I just didn't want your relationship to go sour! You seem to love her a lot, so I'm happy to see you feeling better!"

"Yeah, thanks."

"What are you getting her for Christmas? Is it something dragon related? Or is it red? You know how crazy she is for red objects."

"I might get her a necklace or a bracelet. Are you doing anything special?"

"I'll get presents fur everyone!"

"Everyone?"

"Yes, I'm including you, silly!"

"You really don't have to waste your money on me. I'm not worth it."

She smacked him lightly on the head with a small stack of papers," Don't be ridiculous! Of course you're worth wasting my money on! Besides, it is my money, and I can do whatever I like with it."

"You can't just blow it off on me!"

"Oh shush it'll be alright. Now I'm going to get you something fur Christmas, and I hope you'll enjoy it."

He sighed through his nose and crossed his arms, looking off to the side. She was quite difficult to be around sometimes, but he couldn't stay too angry for too long. That part frustrated him because she was one of those types that a person could not be irritated with for an extensive time unless she did something deserving of it. She was as stupid as Terezi with her stupid short, brunette hair, her stupid freckles, stupid green eyes, stupid cat puns, and stupid short height. He made a face and decided that everyone looked and acted stupid. Nepeta looked at him with slight concern, and he immediately walked out of her office and into his own. The Christmas party was coming up soon, and he did need to consider who he was going to bring gifts for and what to get for them. Perhaps he would buy something sewing related for Kanaya along with some book about vampire romance. It would probably be best to buy something for his boss too as gratitude for hiring someone like him. Another person that he would _definitely _buy a gift for besides Terezi was Nepeta. Maybe he could get her something cat related and some type of tea blend. She loved her tea as much as she loved cats, and her distinct scent even smelled like sugar and tea.

He would have to go gift shopping this weekend with his dad or someone, so he wouldn't look stupid shopping alone. It would be nice to have someone to help him think of what to buy in the first choice instead of being stuck at the mall longer than he needed to. Gamzee was not the person he had in mind for a shopping buddy, but he would still get him something for Christmas. Sollux was a possibility, but he would probably just think of a bunch of inappropriate or technology related gifts. He didn't talk to Tavros that often, so he wouldn't know what he would be like while shopping. Equius was definitely not a choice because their trip would be full of awkward silences and glares, and it might even end up with the gifts being broken and him in the hospital. He wasn't too keen on having Eridan as a shopping buddy, but it was either him or one of his lady co-workers. If he asked Nepeta to go shopping with him, then he would have to make sure to shop in a separate store from her in order to keep her gifts a secret. Shopping with her wouldn't be a problem because he was comfortable with her, and he could probably ask Kanaya to come along if needed. Terezi was an absolute no-no because he could not risk her sneaking up on him and trying to see what he was getting for her, and he wanted his gifts for her to be kept a secret as much as possible.

He glanced out the window to his office to see white flakes falling from the sky and groaned. He had no problem with snow, but it had already snowed so much already for the past week or so. Come to think of it, he hadn't even attempted a snowman either, but maybe it was time for him to stop that. The sun still seemed to shine through the clouds in patches, so it was likely not to storm like it did last week. Quiet chatter from other employees flowed through the hallways and the occasional dropping of an object gave a muffled thud. Today seemed to go by slowly, and he was suddenly eager for the weekend to come. That didn't mean that he was allowed to slack off of work, but it did make him eager to go gift shopping, which was a rare occurrence for him.

Once work was over, he decided to head over to Starbucks for a cappuccino and marble pound cake. This particular Starbucks had a little bell by the door that made it seem like Starbucks was supposed to be this cutesy store with pleasant servers wearing frilly uniforms and coffee fairies in the back creating the perfect drinks and pastries; he might be exaggerating a little. However, there was a blonde worker standing near the cash register who greeted Karkat as he walked over. She smiled pleasantly as she took his order and began getting together his food. He took his order from her and was met with Nepeta and Terezi as he turned around. For a moment, he wondered if they were stalking him for some unknown reason, but Nepeta merely smiled politely before walking past him to place her order. Terezi, on the other hand, greeted him with a peck on the lips and wrapped an arm around his neck.

"Nice to see you here, Karkat!"

"Are you two following me or something?"

"Of course not, dummy, Nepeta and I just decided to get cappuccinos and pastries. We haven't been to Starbucks in awhile."

"Well, I suppose I'm in the same boat."

"Were you going to get a table? You should sit with us!"

"I was planning on heading home right after this, but I don't see why I can't stay for a few minutes."

"Great!" she exclaimed as she lead him over to an empty table.

Nepeta soon joined them after grabbing hers and Terezi's orders.

"Have you gone Christmas shopping yet?"

"I'm planning to go this weekend with a friend or two."

"Why not take me with you?"

"I plan on keeping what I'm getting you a secret, so I cannot allow you to accompany me this weekend."

"What if I promise not to bother you about what you're getting me?"

"No."

"What if I promise not to tease you about you watching rom coms for an entire year?"

"Shouldn't that be an automatic thing? No."

"I want to go shopping with you for once!"

"You can drag me into shopping another time, but I'm set on not bringing you gift shopping with me this weekend."

She sulked and sipped her cappuccino.

"Who do you plan on taking then?" Nepeta asked before taking a bite of her cheese Danish.

"I'm not sure yet," he stared directly into her eyes as a hint," I might ask one of the guys to come along with me."

"You could bring along Equius! I'm sure it would give you two a chance to get along better!"

He froze and desperately hoped she was kidding," I don't plan on paying hospital bills before Christmas."

"He's not going to hurt you."

"Hey, Nepeta, you should go, so you can find out what Karkat's buying for me!"

"Shouldn't you be discussing your plans to find out what your gift is in private?"

"Oh, I couldn't do that, Terezi, that would ruin the element of surprise!"

Karkat was actually surprised that Terezi suggested for Nepeta to accompany him after what happened last week before his date with her.

"You won't mind having Nepeta come along will you?"

"I don't really know. I cannot trust her at the moment with the secrets of the gifts that I'll be shopping for."

Terezi shook her head," Don't be ridiculous!"

"I'll be as ridiculous as I want to, but you're not going to know what I'm getting you until Christmas!"

Terezi sighed and said no more on the subject, and the three engaged in conversations unrelated to Christmas shopping. After awhile, they began to stand up and start heading their separate ways. Terezi left immediately, and Nepeta was going to leave quickly until Karkat pulled her back for a little bit.

"You are coming to shop with me this weekend right?"

She smiled and nodded," Oh yes, I understood what you were getting at when you looked directly at me!"

"Okay that's good."

"I'll talk to you later, Karkat!" she waved as she left.

He waved back to her and walked over to his car to head home. He had a shopping date this weekend.

oOoOoOo

One thing he had not predicted was the sudden appearance of Feferi's second-in-command and his subsequent begging to be brought along on his gift shopping trip. The arguing continued down the hallway as Karkat made his way to his office, and he really wanted to get rid of the stupid hipster with his idiotic thick frames and weird hairdo. Eventually the arguing escalated so loudly that Nepeta could hear them down the hallway, and she approached the two with a murderous look on her face with an equally murderous looking cat in her arms. The two had stopped their argument momentarily as Nepeta bored her olive gaze into them before they pinned the blame on each other for starting the argument. She threatened to rip out their tongues and give them back as Christmas presents if they didn't stop arguing and get along. Now Karkat followed two feet behind Nepeta and stood a foot away from Eridan who he had reluctantly allowed to accompany them.

"Do you think she would've done it?" he asked Karkat in a low voice.

"I'm sure she would have, and Feferi probably would have approved of it," Karkat muttered back.

Nepeta glanced back at them with a small smile on her face and returned to facing forward as she walked.

"I didn't think a woman of her size could be so terrifying," he shuddered.

"You're just unreasonably tall."

"I am not unreasonably tall, Kar, _you're _just unreasonably short!"

"You want me to take you down a few feet, fishface?!"

Nepeta turned around with her arms akimbo and her eyes narrowed.

"Boys."

"Y-yes, ma'am?" they stuttered out.

"Don't make me come over there."

"Yes, ma'am."

She turned around once more and continued to walk ahead of them.

"How tall is she again?" Eridan whispered.

"She's like three inches shorter than me, so I guess four feet eleven."

"Dude, she's so short, yet she's so threatening. How is that even possible?"

"I don't know why you're asking me."

"Uh, Kar…"

"What?"

"She's gone."

"YOU DING-DONG WE LOST HER!"

"Why are you blaming me?"

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO STOPPED WALKING!"

"You stopped walking too, so I don't think you're in the right to say that!"

"SHUT UP I DON'T CARE, AND WE HAVE TO FIND HER!"

Karkat immediately sprinted off to look for Nepeta, and Eridan followed behind. He looked left and right and scanned the various crowds of the mall to find her. Eridan was doing the same, but the two were having no luck finding her. Karkat remembered he had Nepeta's number in his phone and immediately called her. He should have been more alert while following her instead of listening to Eridan's useless drivel. A tap on the shoulder startled him, and he turned around to see Nepeta standing right behind him with her cellphone to her and a large grin plastered to her face.

"WHERE THE-"

She placed a finger to his lips," No, Karkat, you two should have been able to stop bickering enough to keep an eye on me."

"NEPETA, HE STARTED-"

"Karkat, I want you to take a deep breath."

"WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO-"

"Karkat."

He sighed through his nose and took a deep breath.

"Now exhale."

He slowly let out his breath and continued to glare at her, but he was a lot calmer.

"Does that make you feel better?"

"It makes me feel like fireplace bellows."

"Well you are pretty hot-headed," she blushed and covered her mouth," Oops."

He rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand tightly as he saw a Yankee Candle store up ahead.

"Is there a reason for you holding my hand so tightly?"

"I'm not letting you out of my sight again."

"Is that supposed to be romantic?" she smirked.

"Shut up you know I have a girlfriend."

"I'm just teasing you, silly."

Eridan stood watching the two as they entered the store together and wondered what was going on between them. Karkat and Nepeta seemed to be pretty close friends, but he knew Terezi was his girlfriend. Nepeta was a pretty friendly person after all, so that was probably why Karkat was close to her in the first place. It was still interesting to watch the two interact, so he decided to watch them while looking for some candles for Feferi. Karkat began looking through some of the fragrances to see what he could get for Terezi or Kanaya. Nepeta knew Equius was a secret candle lover, so she decided to look for a candle too. A candle by the scent of "Cherries on Snow" caught Karkat's eye, and he grabbed it to smell for Terezi. He nodded and confirmed that the candle would be good for her and proceeded to look for a scent for Kanaya. Beside him, he could hear Nepeta snickering and turned to see what she was laughing about.

"What are you laughing about?"

Her shoulders heaved forward with her restrained laughter," Th-there's a candle scent called 'Fluffy Towels'!"

He looked up to see where she was pointing to see a candle perched on the shelf with the label 'Fluffy Towels".

He snorted," Y-you should totally get that for him."

It was embarrassing for him to start laughing in the store over an amusing candle name, but he couldn't help it. He drew his scarf over his mouth in order to contain the sound of his laughter, and Nepeta leaned against the shelves and slid down to the floor as she stifled her giggles. She was able to recover from her giggles after a few minutes and stood up while Karkat reached up and grabbed the candle for her. Once the three were finished looking around for anymore candles they wished to buy, they purchased them and headed out of the store to continue Christmas shopping. Karkat and Eridan frequently lost sight of Nepeta due to getting distracted or arguing with each other. She would then proceed to scare them from behind or call to them from an upper floor of the mall wearing a cheeky grin on her face.

At one point in time, Karkat decided to split from Eridan and Nepeta in order to get her gifts, and he decided to meet up with them at the mall fountain. Nepeta walked into a store with Eridan and began looking around for something for Karkat. A mug with crabs printed on it immediately caught her eye, and she walked over to inspect it. She hoped he wouldn't mind if she got this for him since he was usually in such a crabby mood, and she thought it would be funny for him to have this. Her green eyes scanned the store for anything else that Karkat would like, and she walked over to a book section to see if there were any that Karkat might enjoy. She browsed through different stories and hoped to find one of interest with a good plot and characters. A book finally caught her eye, and she was delighted to pick it up for Karkat; hopefully he would enjoy it.

Eridan met back up with her at the front of the store, and they made their purchases before heading back out. It was getting close for them to be making their way to the mall fountain, so they began to head back. Different scents from stores and mall kiosks flowed through the air such as cinnamon, gingerbread, chestnuts, and caramel. Nepeta smiled as the different aromas created a pleasant atmosphere as she walked beside Eridan. Running water came to her ears as she and Eridan approached the fountain, and they both set down their shopping bags and sat on a bench while waiting for Karkat to arrive. Christmas music flowed through the air and was partially drowned out by the chatter of people walking through the mall. Nepeta looked around and casually surveyed the Christmas decorations hanging around such as giant ornaments hanging from the ceiling, white lights, red ribbon tied onto the railings, garland bordering the entrance to stores, and bells. It brought a smile to her face, and she turned to see Eridan smiling a little too. He always seemed to be in a tense mood whenever he wasn't trying to impress and run errands for Feferi, and she was glad to see that he was enjoying himself.

"I'm back," a familiar voice rang out.

"Good to see you again, Karkat!" Nepeta smiled.

"Are you two done with shopping, or are there any more places that we need to check out?"

Nepeta looked over to Eridan," Are you done shopping?"

"Yeah I'm done if you two are done shopping," he responded.

"Great! It looks like we had a successful day then," Nepeta cheered as she stood up and gathered up her bags once more.

Eridan did the same with his bags, and all three began to walk out of the mall and to the parking lot. Nepeta waved goodbye to Karkat and Eridan as she made it to her car and began to put away her things in the trunk, and the other two waved back at her as they arrived at their respective vehicles. She was happy that she was able to get her shopping done and all that was left to do was wrapping them up before Christmas. Another thing she thought of as she pulled out of the parking lot and began driving home was building a snowman. She had not considered making one this year and it was about time that she made one. Once she finished up putting her bags in her room, she ran back outside to start building a snowman. Maybe it was childish for her to do this, but she didn't care because making things out of snow was too much fun to pass up. Her hands plunged into the powdery white in her yard and began to form a ball. It was freezing outside as she worked on her snowman, but she continued her work. Eventually she completed a snowman with a cat's head and began on another snow sculpture of a horse. Splashes of peach mingled with gold and scarlet hues painted the sky as the sun slowly descended, and Nepeta walked into her house to warm up.

She glanced at the calendar hanging on her wall and noticed that the Christmas party was coming up on Tuesday, and she grinned in excitement. The party would definitely be fun, and she was going to make a dessert for everyone. Ubasti lay curled up on her bed, and Nepeta walked over to flop her over and tickle her belly. Ubasti squirmed underneath her owner's touch and started trying to swat Nepeta's hand away until she decided to give a swift bite to make her stop. Nepeta frowned at Ubasti and scooped her up into her arms, flopping onto her bed. Ubasti squirmed a little more, and Nepeta finally released the silver cat from her grip. The slender feline shook herself off before walking over to Nepeta's face and sniffing at her a bit then hopped off the bed and sauntered out. Nepeta smiled and shook her head, and she began undressing to put on her nightclothes.

oOoOoOo

The sun was setting rapidly, but that was to be expected since it was winter. A very large yard was covered in white, sparkling snow, and the yard was carefully decorated for Christmas. This was by far the fanciest place Nepeta had ever been, and she'd seen some fancy places before. She located where the other cars were parked and drove over carefully being mindful of any ice that might be on the road. The front door opened as a tall figure walked out and proceeded to walk across the yard and over to her. She smiled as she grabbed the dessert she made for the party and the bags that held her gifts. Equius told her that there was no need for her to walk, and she complained that she would be fine walking in by herself. He refused to allow her to walk all the way to the mansion in case she slipped on some ice, and took her belongings as she shook her head and climbed onto his back; At least there was no one else around to watch. Equius made it to the door and set her down, and she opened the door for the both of them.

Inside was very warm and cozy, and the air smelled like gingerbread. Nepeta walked into the living room area while Equius went off to put away her things in the kitchen. She looked up at the extravagant chandelier hanging from the high ceiling and illuminating the room with its myriad of little lights. The railings were decorated with garland and white lights and red ribbon accenting them. The sound of "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" resounded through the room as Nepeta located another co-worker of hers playing the piano. His long, thin fingers flew across the black and white keys with ease, and a fellow cat boarder stood by listening with a mug of hot chocolate in her hand. She watched him with a small smile on her face painted with black lipstick as usual and seemed to be mesmerized by the music. Nepeta had a feeling that those two would be getting closer to each other before the year ended, and she looked around to see who else was already here. Terezi stood chatting with her best friend Vriska near the fireplace about events from their childhood that they shared together.

Suddenly, Karkat's yelling sounded from the kitchen area accompanied by the lisping voice of Sollux, and Nepeta smiled as she listened to their argument over electronics. She was suddenly hugged tightly by an energetic blonde with short, coiffed hair and a purple striped scarf. The woman was another cat boarder like Nepeta, Meulin, and the other blonde standing near the piano. Her lips were usually painted black like her sister's, but today they were a lovely shade of red. She wore a pink sweater with a white cat and some sparkles paired with a black skirt and leggings. Nepeta smiled and gave reciprocated the hug tightly.

"How are you, Nepeta?" Roxy beamed

"I'm well, Roxy!" Nepeta smiled.

"How's your December been?"

"It's been purretty good!"

"It's been awhile since I've been able to talk to ya! Have you moved out of your house yet?"

"I'm not quite ready to do that. I'm hoping to find a friend to move in somewhere with."

"I hope you find someone to move in with soon!"

Roxy gave her another hug before walking off to go speak with a tall blonde with triangle shaped shades and a pair of reindeer antlers on his head. Nepeta scanned the room for anyone else to talk to and spotted Terezi walking over with Vriska. She didn't talk to Vriska very much and did her best to avoid contact with her. Vriska was a bit of a dangerous woman to be around, and Nepeta did not feel comfortable dealing with her. The taller brunette threw an arm around Nepeta's shoulders, and Terezi wrapped her arm around the small of her back. Nepeta subtly shifted closer to Terezi for comfort while Vriska flashed her a smile and lightly stroked her hair.

"Heeeeeeeey, Nepeta! I haven't seen you in awhile," she greeted.

"No, you haven't have you, and I haven't seen you either," Nepeta spoke with slight discomfort.

"What's the matter? You don't look too happy to see me!"

"Vriska, you know she doesn't like spiders," Terezi giggled.

"You can't be that scared of me, Nepeta!"

"I'm not scared of you, Vriska!" she insisted.

Vriska pulled her into a tight hug," There's no need to be a little scaredy-cat, Nepeta!"

Terezi pulled Nepeta away from Vriska and kept a firm grip on her shoulders," Alright, she's had enough of interaction with you, Vriska. Give the poor girl a break!"

"I don't see why she can't hug me, Terezi."

"You're making her a little uncomfortable. You have a habit of intimidating people."

Vriska tossed her hair over her shoulder," Terezi, I've aaaaaaaalways been intimidating towards people. It's just who I am! You should know that by now."

"I know that, but you're not supposed to be intimidating people at a Christmas party! Go intimidate Tavros or something," Terezi shooed her with her hand.

Vriska rolled her eyes," He's not intimidated by me anymore!"

With that said, she went off to go find the Taurus man upstairs.

"I'm sorry about that. You know she can be so dramaaaaaaaatic," Terezi apologized while mimicking Vriska's tendency to draw out her vowels.

"It's no purroblem! She just has this dangerous air around her, and I don't want to get caught up in that," Nepeta explained.

"That's perfectly fine," she grinned," Are you allowed to tell me what Karkat got me for Christmas?"

"No, Terezi, you know I can't do that. I purromised him that I wouldn't tell."

"Alright, I guess I'll stop bothering you about it."

"Are we doing anything besides eating, talking, and the gift exchange?"

Terezi shrugged," Not that I know of."

"I'm going off to scavenge for food now."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later!"

Nepeta departed from the living room and went in search of where the food was located. She was glad to have eaten a light lunch with no snacks in between, or she would be too full to eat anything from the party. Large paintings decorated the walls and were of landscapes, still lifes, or members of the Peixes family. They were strangely associated with fish and other aquatic wildlife as well as tyrian purple. Feferi's aunt was also the head of the Betty Crocker Corporation which was an interesting thing to note. She and Feferi's mother were both very fearsome women, but they had tender centers; at least that's what Feferi told her friends and employees. Nepeta nearly jumped at the sight of Feferi's mother standing near a huge painting of herself on the wall. The woman had long, dark waves of dark brown almost black hair that cascaded gracefully down her back and over her shoulders. She wore a tyrian purple holiday dress with a black bolero and black heels.

Nepeta continued walking down the hallway and passed her with a simple "Hello, Mrs. Peixes." and continued on her way to find where the food was. Feferi's mother glanced at Nepeta's retreating form before returning her gaze to the painting. Arms found their way around Nepeta's waist, and she turned to see Aradia with a huge grin on her face. She dragged Nepeta to an average sized room where a few tables were set up for food and gifts, and Nepeta was grateful for Aradia dragging her here. Frosting, chocolate, pumpkin, apple, cinnamon, and sugar mingled through the air and produced a delightful variety of scents. Aradia placed a hand over Nepeta's eyes and brought her over to the table to give her something to try. The taste of chocolate and cinnamon danced across Nepeta's taste buds as she began to chew whatever it was that Aradia put into her mouth.

"Oreo balls with cinnamon?" She guessed.

Aradia removed her hand," Correct! Did I do well?"

"That was furry delicious!"

"That's good to know! I hope nobody is allergic to cinnamon."

"Well, you should be sure to warn everyone that there's cinnamon. I'm purretty sure that nobody is allergic, but tell everyone anyways just to be on the safe side."

"There is so much sugary food here, and I'm pretty sure a dentist is crying somewhere about cavities."

"I thought a dentist would celebrate about getting to fill in cavities."

"Well, maybe there's a dentist crying over cavities and one celebrating about filling in cavities."

"That works."

"Have you been talking to everyone?"

"Yes, I've been having short chats with everyone. I thought I heard you in the kitchen with Karkat and Sollux."

"They went upstairs for something technology related, so I decided to locate the food table again."

"Do want to head upstairs with me?"

Aradia nodded and left the kitchen with Nepeta to go find Sollux and Karkat. The heated chatter of two men arguing over technology sounded through the hallway as Aradia and Nepeta made their way over to Karkat and Sollux. Karkat looked enraged as usual, and Sollux casually stood against the wall with a red party cup in his hand and snickered at him. Aradia rolled her eyes and scolded Sollux for irritating Karkat, and Nepeta placed a hand on Karkat's back. Karkat seemed to relax as he turned to see Nepeta and merely gave one final glare at Sollux before turning his attention to her. She smiled sweetly and gave him a tight hug.

"Hi, Nepeta," he greeted.

"Hi, Karkat! How are you doing?"

"Well, I'm just trying to educate Mr. Captor on the science of rom coms, and it's going as smoothly as a car driving over a pile of garbage on the tip of a mountain peak in the Himalayas."

"That's an interesting simile."

"You're such a nerd, Karkat," Sollux grinned.

"Sollux, it's not like you're any better. You're a nerd, and I'm a nerd," Aradia crossed her arms.

"Aren't we all nerds?" Nepeta asked.

"Pretty much," Aradia tilted her head to the side.

"You're a pretty hot nerd, AA," Sollux smirked.

Aradia blushed," I haven't heard that nickname in awhile."

"Oh why don't you two go find some mistletoe to make out under?" Karkat complained.

"KK, I thought you liked rom coms!"

"THIS ISN'T A ROMANTIC COMEDY YOU SALLOW-FACED DIMWIT!"

"What? You wanna go short stuff?"

Karkat lunged forward with his hands outstretched, but Nepeta wrapped her arms tightly around his abdomen and lifted him a few inches off the floor. Aradia shook her head and dragged Sollux out by the arm. Karkat flailed and struggled in Nepeta's arms as he continued to seethe with anger. He continued to struggle, and she placed him back on his feet before looking him straight in the eye. He did his best to loom over her with a threatening glare, but she merely smiled and leaned back a little. This incensed him even more, but Nepeta merely took on a fighting stance.

"Do you want you go?" She inquired.

He raised a fist to strike her but immediately dropped it to his side.

"I'm not going to hit you."

"Are you sure? You can throw a punch if you want to."

"You're serious?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I can take you."

He shook his head," No, I'm fine now."

She lowered her fists," Why do you let people get to you?"

"How do you not let people get to you?"

"I usually just let things slide. Maybe it's because we have different tempurrments!"

"Stop with the cat puns."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"You know I do this exact same thing with Equius."

"Ugh, I do _not _need to be acting like him."

"He's not _that _bad, Karkat."

"I will never understand how you put up with him."

She shrugged," You don't have to understand."

"Well, how have you been lately?"

"I've been well thank you fur asking."

"That's good to know."

They chatted with each other before heading back downstairs to eat for a little bit. Terezi peeked in after a little bit and dragged them to the living room to sing Christmas carols. Karkat outright refused to join in the singing as well as most of the other guys, so the girls did majority of the singing. Feferi eventually coaxed Eridan into singing along, and many were surprised at how well he sang. Sollux made jibes at his singing, and Feferi and Aradia had to keep the two men from tussling with each other. As the girls began another song, Karkat listened carefully to Nepeta as she sang. Her voice was nice and strong as she hit the notes and pleasing to hear. It went well with Aradia's slightly lower voice and Feferi's soprano.

Feferi began some games for everyone to play, and a few people went off to do their own thing during the games. Nepeta casually looked at the clock and saw that it was 10:30. She needed to start heading home in a little bit, or she would be driving all night. She stood and told Feferi that she would be leaving, and they hugged before Nepeta went upstairs to find Karkat to tell him goodbye. He was lounging in a chair casually with a glass in his hand; she didn't think he'd be one to drink alcohol. By the flush on his cheeks, she knew she'd have to be brief in telling him goodbye. He glanced over to her and stood up from the chair.

"I just came to tell you that I'm leaving, Karkat!"

"Already?"

She nodded," Yes, it's getting late, and I don't want to be driving all night. You came here with Terezi right? Make sure she's the one driving you two home. I wouldn't want you two getting into an accident."

"You worry too much, Miss Leijon."

"I just want you two to be safe."

He hummed softly and swayed to the side," Do you know where your gifts are?"

"Yes, I do, and I'll have Equius help me bring them to my car."

"That's good to know. One more thing, Miss Leijon."

She backed away from him as he stumbled towards her, and he caught her arm and pulled her close. She struggled to wriggle away from his grip, but he kept her still. This wasn't right for him to do, and she was desperately trying to escape him before he did something stupid. He tightened the arm that was around her waist and tilted her chin upwards. Her eyes widened and she pressed her lips inwards to hide them as he leaned in. Karkat moved his hand to the back of her head and stepped on Nepeta's toes, which made her gasp softly, and he kissed her. She wasn't expecting for her first kiss to happen with her friend's inebriated boyfriend; his breath tasted like alcohol, and he pulled away from her and grinned.

"Merry Christmas," he walked past her and out of the room.

She stood there dazed for a few moments until her eyes widened in horror. She just kissed her friend's inebriated boyfriend. Technically, _he _was the one who kissed _her_, but the kiss still happened. As long as Terezi didn't find out, then everything would be fine. If she did find out, then Nepeta would have to explain everything to her. She sighed and walked downstairs to find Equius and have him help her with her belongings.

The drive home was quiet, but she had enjoyed herself at the party. The only thing that bothered her was the kiss she shared with Karkat. It was an accident, and she had been trying to avoid his kiss. Perhaps he would completely forget about what happened tonight, and she could relax. She pulled into her driveway and gathered the gifts she received from everybody out of the car and entered her house. It was about 11:15 as she walked inside and began placing her gifts beneath the tree. Her mother had gone to a Christmas party of her own as evidenced by the other gifts that weren't from her or Meulin. She let out a huge yawn and walked upstairs for a quick shower before bed.

* * *

Phew it's taken me at least 4-5 weeks to get this thing done because my laptop has not been fixed, and I've been using my parents' desktop. Also school's been pretty hectic with homework and such, and I literally had like zero actual computer time last weekend (not including time spent on my iphone). I finally got this chapter finished today, so everything's good. I've been suggested to break up my paragraphs into smaller sections like I used to have, and the only reason I made such large paragraphs before was because I thought people like larger paragraphs to read. It's back to paragraphs of 6-8 sentences now. I'm really thankful for all who've found this fanfic and have read it! Be sure to leave reviews too! I like reading reviews~


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